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M.I687X
EXCURSIONS
IN
MADEIRA AND PORTO SANTO,
DURING
THE AUTUMN OF 1823,
WHILE ON HIS THIRD VOYAGE
TO
AFRICA;
By the late T. EDWARD BOWDICH, Esq.
CONDUCTOR OF THE MISSION TO ASHANTEE,
HONORARY MEMBER OF THE CAMBRIDGE PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY, AND MEMBER OF VARIOUS OTHER
LEARNED SOCIETIES BOTH FOREIGN AND DOMESTIC.
TO WHICH IS ADDED,
By Mrs. BOWDICH,
I. A NARRATIVE OF THE CONTINUANCE OF THE VOYAGE TO ITS COMPLETION, TOGETHER
WITH THE SUBSEQUENT OCCURRENCES FROM MR. BOWDICH’S ARRIVAL IN AFRICA
TO THE PERIOD OF HIS DEATH.
II. A DESCRIPTION OF THE ENGLISH SETTLEMENTS ON THE RIVER GAMBIA.
HI. APPENDIX : CONTAINING ZOOLOGICAL AND BOTANICAL DESCRIPTIONS, AND TRANSLA¬
TIONS FROM THE ARABIC.
ILLUSTRATED BY
SECTIONS, VIEWS, COSTUMES, AND ZOOLOGICAL FIGURES.
LONDON :
GEORGE B. WHITTAKER, AVE-MARIA LANE.
MDCCCXXV.
LONDON
PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES,
Northumberland-court.
lots'?'.' 1 -JcAv t 0
/
Ht> lWks
TO THE
RIGHT HON. EARL RATHURST, K.G.
fyc. 8fc. fyc.
My Lord,
I have been induced to hope that this
book may, without impropriety, be inscribed to your
Lordship, not only because it relates to a Settle¬
ment of which you may be considered the appointed
Guardian ; but, because it is well known that your
Lordship, even in the midst of the important duties
of your high official station, finds leisure for the encou¬
ragement of all laudable attempts towards the exten¬
sion of general knowledge.
To the honour of your Lordship’s patronage I have
no other pretension, than that of having shared the
fortunes of one, whose short life was zealously devoted
to scientific attainments, and to his country’s service ;
IV
DEDICATION.
nor have I any other claim to merit, than that of
having edited the last remnant of his scientific labours.
To your Lordship, however, I fortunately need not
appeal for that kindness which will find excuse for
any errors and imperfections in the style and arrange¬
ment of the following pages ; and the same kindness will
prompt you to believe, that, the substance, if defective,
might have been amended and improved, had the care
of revisal been left to the author himself, rather than
to his widow.
With deference therefore, though not without con¬
fidence, I submit this work to the Public, under the
protection of your Lordship’s name, and subscribe
myself, with feelings of gratitude and respect,
Your Lordship’s
Much Obliged
And most Obedient Servant,
S. BOWDICH,
London , March, 1825.
PREFACE.
W HEN I had corrected the proofs of the concluding sheet of
the present volume, I considered that my labour was at an end ;
but I am told that there must be a Preface, and that I am gene¬
rally expected to compose it of the memoirs of him whose loss I
have so much reason to deplore.
This is a task, however, which I cannot undertake ; not because
it would add to the poignancy of my sufferings, for my greatest
happiness consists in talking or writing of him ; in retracing
every hour that we passed together, and in repeating all I have
ever heard of him before we met. But my reason for declining
it is, because his own numerous works are the best pictures of his
scientific labours and attainments ; and the only part of his
life which is not generally known, belongs to his domestic and
social virtues. On this subject I dare not trust myself to write,
as I might be led by affection and happy retrospect, to expatiate
in a manner that would be little interesting to the public.
F or the favourable reception of the first part of my book, I feel
little or no apprehension. The errors which may have crept
in when correcting the press, will justly be laid to my charge,
VI
PREFACE.
and cannot deteriorate from its excellence. There, indeed, I have
not presumed to make the slightest alteration, not even by com¬
pressing the Supplement into the body of the work ; feeling per¬
fectly assured, that I had no right to deprive the public of one
word, and that all attempts to improve would have been fruitless.
For the second part I claim indulgence, but I do not ask it
from the consideration that I am a widow with three orphans to
maintain and educate ; for, in my opinion, these circumstances
form the strongest stimulus to exertion. I have only to entreat
the public to consider, that I make my appearance as an
Authoress for the first time, and deprived of the aid which would
have ensured me success. Accustomed to submit every word and
action to my husband, I now feel a diffidence in my own abilities,
which fetters rather than promotes my best endeavours.
When I recollect the painful struggles, the numerous privations,
the years of intense study, which preceded Mr. Bowclich’s third
voyage to Africa ; when I reflect, that every hope, every wish, that
bound us to Europe was sacrificed ; that all personal property, and
the greatest bodily and mental exertions were devoted to this one
cherished object ; and when I look at the last part of the volume,
to which this is the Preface, I feel concerned at the little apparent
result. But when I request my readers to bear in mind, that the
little that has been done was completed in the short space of a
month, I think they will agree with me, that it is a favourable
specimen of what might have been effected, had Mr. Bowdich’s life
been prolonged.
Although I may deem it necessary to control my feelings in
PREFACE.
Vll
other respects, to the sentiments of gratitude there need be no
restraint ; and to those who sympathized with me in my affliction,
and met my returning orphans with their bounty, let me offer
these sentiments, with an assurance, that they will never be effaced
from my memory, unless the events which occasioned them can
also be obliterated.
.
CONTENTS.
Chapter I. — Observations on Portuguese Government. — Geological Excur¬
sions in the Environs of Lisbon. — Aqueduct. — fishes. — Almada. — Shells.
— Voyage to Madeira. — Fellow Passengers. — Gull. — Fishes and Molluscs 1
Chapter II.— Mount Church. — Geology ofWestern Cliffs. — Lava. — Hut of an
Idiot. — Waterfall. — Tutinegro.— Corn-Mills. — Ariero. — Camera de lobos.
— Sida carpinifolia. — Cliff— Pao Branco.— Coural das Freiras. — First ■
attempt to go to Pico Ruivo. — Second attempt. — Ferns. — St. Vicente. —
House of Donna Anna. — Poul da Serra.— Pico da Cruz — Second Excur¬
sion to the Westward. — Malmsey Plantation. — Cavern. — Brazen Head. —
Excursions to the Eastward. — St. Cruz Machico. — The Lagoa. — Conclud¬
ing remarks ........ 17
Chapter III. — Visit to Porto Santo. — Story of Machirn. — Sharks. — Insects.
— Morgados. — History of Baker. — Landing at Porto Santo. — Governor’s
house. — Governor and family. — Formation of Porto Santo. — Baxo. —
Productions of Porto Santo . . . . . .72
Chapter IV. — Sketch of a Flora. — Geographical distribution of Plants. —
Wines. — .Cultivation of the Vine.. — Soils. — African Imports. — Vegetables.
Dyes. — Timber . . . . . . . .101
Chapter V. — Zoological, Meteorological, and Barometrical Observations. —
Flood of Madeira . . . . . \ .121
Supplement ........ 139
Botanical Appendix ....... 151
List of Insects found in Madeira . . . . . .169
NARRATIVE.
Chapter I. — Arrival of the Governor at Funchal. — The Proceedings of the
New Powers. — Departure from Madeira. — Teneriffe. — Arrival at Bona
Vista. — Senhor Martins’ House. — Governor and Family.— Society. —
c
X
CONTENTS.
Manners. — Prisoners from St. Jago.— Going to Mass. — Arrival of De¬
spatches from Lisbon. — St. Antonio.— Departure for the River Gambia.
— Character of the Owner of the Schooner. — St. Jago. — Arrival at
Bathurst. — Mr. Bowdicli’s Illness and Death . . . .173
Chapter II. — Bathurst founded. — Situation and Climate of Banjole. _ Har-
mattans. — Description of the town of Bathurst. — Population. — Building
stone. — Gillyfree. — Albreda. — Slave dealing. — Mac. Carthy’s Island. —
Account of the manners and costume of the Jolofls and Mandin&'oes. —
Gold. — Manufactures — Music — Dancing. — Horses. — Governments. —
Alarms ......... 200
Chapter III. — Bakkow. — Government-House. — Town. — Watering Place. —
Alcade. — Vegetation. — Arabic ...... 213
Appendix. — Zoology, Botany, Translations, &c. .... 221
LIST OF PLATES.
Plate I. — Costume of Madeira. The figure on the left, is one of the Fran¬
ciscan friars, g'oing to beg provision for his convent. The peasant nearest to him
bears a full wine-skin on his shoulders, and the other, in front, is coming with his fowls
and basket of fruit to the market. The woman who is advancing, is carrying flour
and bananas, and the one who is returning, carries dried fish, and a bundle of flax for
spinning. The garden in the back-ground shews the method of training 'the vines,
and contains an American Aloe, a small Dragon-tree, and Banana-trees.
Plate II. — The Aqueduct of Lisbon, with the hills on each side of it, and the
orange gardens beneath.
Plate III. — Geological sections. A, the first section, is to the westward of the
Pontinha, or Loo bridge, and the strata lie as follows, beginning at the top : columnar
basalt, red tufa, scoriae, yellow tufa, scoriae, and yellow tufa intersected by two bands
of pumice. The figure in this, as in all the other plates, bears an exact proportion to
the sketch. B is also to the west of the Pontinha, and shews the basaltic caverns
near the sea. C is to the east of the Pontinha, and only differs by having a layer
of hackly basalt, between the two columnar strata. D is a distant view of Plate
VI., where the slip beneath the sea is more plainly seen, than in the nearer represen¬
tation.
LIST OF PLATES.
XI
Plate IV. — A, the cliff seen from the road to Camera de Lobos. The church
steeple shews its proportion. B, an outline of the principal peaks of the island,
taken from the summit of the Pico da Cruz, and shewing the ravine of the Jardin de
Serra, in which is situated the country house of Mr. Veitch.
Plate V. — Coural das Freiras, or the immense valley which traverses the island
of Madeira.
Plate VI. — Brazen head or Garajao. The white ridges in the layer of scoriae
are incrustations of salt, imbibed from the marine atmosphere. One of the curious
basaltic dykes, so frequent in Madeira, is seen to the right of the peasant.
Plate VII. — A, hills of Porto Santo. B, sand formation in the same island.
Plate VIII. — Nearer views of the principal peaks.
Plate IX. — Costume of the Gambia. The figure dressed in blue is an Alcade,
or Governor of a town, the woman with a parasol is a Senhara, or Mulatto. The
figures passing at the back are, a travelling Moor with his bow and quiver, and his
wife and child.
Plate X. — A side view of the town of Bathurst.
Plate XI. — The Moorish town of Bakkow.
Fk
3. 1.
2.
yy
3.i
yy
4A
yy
5.
yy
6.
y>
7-£
yy
8.5
yy
9.
yy
10.
yy
11.
yy
12.
yy
13-1
yy
14- J
yy
15.
yy
16.
yy
17.
yy
18-1
yy
19.j
yy
20.
The Lepidopus, or Hake of the Tagus.
Crab, or new species of Planes, a, the upper, b, the under view.
Fossil shells found at Almada.
Sertularia and Aviculae of Madeira.
a, The Halosydna or Caraccas of Madeira, b, one valve of the operculum.
Fossil Turritellse of Almada.
Beak of Goniaphea.
a and b,
> Helices of Madeira.
a and b,j
Helices of Porto Santo, found in the sand formation.
Bulimus do.
Helix of Porto Santo.
Helix subplicata of do.
Venuses found at Porto Santo.
Pecten do.
xii
LIST OF PLATES.
Fig. 21.
a, the Locusta albifrons of Madeira, b, the head.
99
22.
Louse of the Madeira Falcon, a, natural size, b, a claw magnified, c,
under view magnified.
99
23.
Thomisus, or the green spider of Madeira.
99
24.
Theridium, or the brown spider of do.
99
25.
Sedgwickia Hemispherica.
99
26.
The Boqueirao, or Smaris Royerii.
99
27.
The Chixarra, or Seriola picturata.
r>
28.
The Abrota, or Phycis furcatus.
99
29.
The Pequeno Dourado, or Labeo sparoides.
99
30.
A fossil branch from Canical.
99
31.
A fossil trunk from do.
99
32.
A fossil Helix from Can^al.
~^99
33.
a and b, a fossil Delphinula from do.
99
34.
a and b, a fossil Helix, do.
99
35.
a. The Xyleborus, or worm which destroys the orange-trees of Madeira.
b, the same dissected, c, the forceps, and process which supports
them, d, the forceps, and fleshy appendices which surround them.
99
36.
Amorphocephalus granulatus.
99
37.
Seleima aurata.
99
38.
Mugil bispinosus.
99
CO
jO
Bodianus maculatus.
99
40.
Pristipoma humilis.
99
41.
Diastodon speciosus.
. _
42.
Dentex unispinosus.
99
43.
Sciaena elongata.
99
44.
Clupea fimbriata.
99
45.
a, Balistes radiata, b, the teeth.
99
46.
Dentex diplodon.
99
47.
Labrus Jagonensis.
99
48.
Tetraodon leevissimus.
99
49.
Lichia tetracantha.
99
50.
Pimelodus Gambensis.
99
51.
Anomalodon incisus.
99
52.
Chromis triacantha.
99
53.
Julis squami-marginatus.
99
54.
Sciasna dux.
99
55.
Beak of the Gambia Ibis.
99
56.
Head of Lizard.
99
57.
Mandingo bolt or lock.
EXCURSIONS
in
MADEIRA AND PORTO SANTO,
Sfc.
CHAPTER I.
Observations on Portuguese Government. — Geological Excursions in
the Environs of Lisbon. — Aqueduct. — Fishes. — Almada. — Shells.
Voyage to Madeira. — Fellow Passengers.— Gull. — Fishes and
Molluscce.
Haying devoted the three jsars and a half which had elapsed
since my publication of the Mission to Ashantee, to a patient
study of physical science and n oral history, I became anxious,
on the extinction of the Airman Committee, and the formation
of the new government for c j Gold Coast, to repair to Sierra
Leone, with the view of making myself useful, if permitted to do
so. I determined, however, to proceed to Lisbon, in the first
instance ; in the hope of getting access to some MSS. in the public
and private archives of that city, which might enable us to form
an idea of the extent of the Portuguese discoveries, establishments,
commerce, and influence, in the interior of Congo, Angola, Ben-
guela, and Mozambique. Although furnished with very strong
letters to distinguished individuals at Lisbon, the difficulties
B
2
EXCURSIONS IN MADEIRA
opposed to me were so various, that, notwithstanding every effort
on the part of my friends there, it was nearly a month before I
had collected the information, which a I apprehend must ere this
have been laid before the public, and which, scanty as it may
seem, is, I have been assured, all that exists on the subject.
It has almost always been the custom with every Portuguese,
holding a distinguished appointment, such as that of a minister
or governor, to preserve copies of all the despatches and instruc¬
tions written and received by him during his administration, as
well as of every other official document, and to have them bound
together on his retirement, and deposited in the family library,
like any other historical volume, for his own justification, and for
the honour and instruction of his descendants. Thus, much has
escaped in manuscript, which would have been condemned by that
Inquisition which allowed no man a bible, which authorised the
Custom-House to rob the foreigner even of his prayer-book,
which stole any man from his family whom a malignant or de¬
signing neighbour fee’d them to impale, and which had not even
forbearance enough to reply, “ Monsieur, vous etes bien curieux,”
(as the guard did to a poor Frenchman hurried away to the
Bastille,) when their victim dared to entreat an explanation beyond
the vague charge of impiety. Some of the nobility, no doubt, as
liberal lovers of literature, would always have been ready to open
these manuscript volumes, to any inquirer who had desired to
throw light on Portuguese diplomacy and Portuguese discoveries,
for both of which a blank seems to have been left in modern
history ; — but the greater number have hitherto been either too
narrow-minded and suspicious to do so, or, occupying their whole
fives to prove that “ Kings have descended from them, and not
they from kings” — a vaunt not unfrequently blazoned in letters
a An account of the discoveries of the Portuguese in the interior of Angola and
Mozambique.
AND PORTO SANTO.
3
of gold in the palaces of the provinces, have been ignorant of
every volume they possessed beyond their genealogies. At the
present moment, however, even these men are disposed to oblige
those who are occupied in useful research ; not from any generous
interest in it, but because they feel themselves just now entirely
eclipsed in public life, and therefore endeavour to appear liberal
in private, not only in exoneration of themselves, but out of oppo¬
sition to the constitutionalists.
Not a few, perhaps, of the more enlightened nobility would be
disposed to join the better cause, in the hope of gradually in¬
ducing a government more worthy of that cause, were it not for
the coarseness of manner, vulgarity of language, slovenly habits,
and contempt of refinement, whether intellectual or physical,
which, though felt by few, has been affected by many of the liberal
party, with the short-sighted and unworthy view of pleasing the
lower order of their constituents ; who, instead of being attached
by it, have shrewdly enough construed it into a discovery, that the
differences between themselves and their deputies were purely
imaginary, and that they might just as well elect one of their own
class. If the constitutionalists consider the nobility as an un¬
natural aristocracy, supported by accident and court favour, and
not by superior achievement, virtue, and intelligence, — an aristo¬
cracy, which had monopolised all the places of profit, yet almost
always remained debtors to the revenue for their unfair proportion
of those arbitrary taxes which were squeezed, without abatement
out of the hard earnings of the labourer : if they could not help
feeling this, they should at least wish the educated gentleman to
preserve that sort of dignity, to give that evidence of his supe¬
riority, which would warrant the lower class to look up to him
with confidence and expectation, and to protect his privileges from
attack or intrusion on the part of the more worthless of their own
body; as they would do, were it once made manifest that the
4
EXCURSIONS IN MADEIRA
combined superiority of character, talent, and education was
exerted in their behalf, and for their real good. There are many
men who are loth to sacrifice the refinements of intellect and taste,
the very barriers of society, to political changes, better in principle,
but bearing very little on themselves in immediate effect ; and they
wisely prefer to be slighted and treated with hauteur in the world
by an ignorant nobility, to being invaded in their retirement by
the boisterous impertinence and coarse equality of an unruly
mob. The younger members of the present legislative party
should endeavour to outvie their noble predecessors in every
virtuous refinement, in the classic purity of their language, in the
elegance of their private pursuits, in the polish of their manners,
in the taste, though not the splendour of their entertainments,
nay even in the fashion of their dress, if they would reconcile the
nobility to a generous cause, and, by removing their present reason¬
able apprehensions, avail themselves of so desirable an aid in re¬
modelling the government. This would be to benefit the country,
and to do more than justify themselves. The word gentleman,
however, is not understood in F ranee or in Portugal, perhaps not
on the continent ; there it implies nobility, with us it means a man
of honour and education, who, however high or low his birth may
be, dares not do that for which the vulgar stand excused; who is
admissible to all society, who can command satisfaction from, and
appeals to the first nobles of the land, not as a nobleman but a
gentleman, and always finds that noble as jealous, and as proud of
the title, as himself. This is the only sort of levelling, if it can be
called so, tolerated by thinking men ; and it is to this perhaps that
the English character owes its high reputation: certain it is, that
our country owes to it much of her real glory, for this one
feeling has created energies unknown on the continent.
I had scarcely finished my extracts from the different despatches,
instructions, and reports, received and forwarded by the Governors
AND PORTO SANTO.
5
of Angola and Mozambique, when I learned that a Portuguese
schooner was on the point of sailing for Madeira, and having
safely deposited my instruments on board, with the exception of a
barometer, I hastened to devote the first day of leisure I had
enjoyed, to an excursion in the environs of the aqueduct.
On the right of the descent to the aqueduct are large fragments
and rocks, presenting all the characters of transition limestone;
here crystalline, there compact, equally variable in fracture ; and
the outer surface, exposed to the air for ages, passing through
all the different shades from red to black, and yielding with
difficulty to the hammer, which exposed the buff and white colours
pervading the interior of the mass. This fresh surface, where the
recent fall of vast blocks exposed it in considerable patches, formed
a pleasing contrast to the gloomy appearance which the moisture
of the atmosphere had induced over the rest. Put few plants had
withstood the unusual dryness of the last summer; even the clefts
of the rocks were almost destitute of them; and I was much
disappointed in my search for lichens and mosses, of which I
promised myself a rich harvest. To give some idea, however,
of the social plants which characterized the vegetation, I gathered
the cichorium intybus and the anagallis arvensis, as I descended
to the small river, which, during the rainy season, flows under
the great arch of the aqueduct; and pursuing its bed for a short
distance, I found the veronica bcccabunga, close to a dirty stream
and several tufts of the solanum pubesccns.
Ascending from the little river by the garden of orange-trees,
and turning round to look to the eastward, or towards the city,
we are struck with the regularly-stratified appearance of the
lower range of the dingy limestone of the opposite side ; looking
in many places like the coarse masonry of a vast fortress, while
the higher range, defaced as it were by the labours of the quarry-
men, seems hewn into rude buttresses, and has lost all traces
6
EXCURSIONS IN MADEIRA
of those horizontal fissures created by the moisture eagerly
attracted from a marine atmosphere — an apparent stratification,
which is merely superficial, and only wrought by a long contact
with the air. The opposite drawing (Plate 2), which was carefully
made on the spot, will convey a better idea of the appearance
of these rocks, which evidently supplied the stone for the
aqueduct that strides over tliemb.
During this short stage of the ascent, the anthemis hispanica
presented itself, but was confined to a very small space; the
inula odorata extended a little further; the convolvulus arvensis
confined itself to the bottom, and although I did not discover
a trace of the genus during the remainder of the ascent, yet on
arriving at the highest point, in the most exposed situation possible,
I found the convolvulus tricolor. The scabiosa succisa was thinly
scattered at the foot of the first hill ; the sisymbrium palustre also
confined itself to the bottom of the hill ; the mentha arvensis grew
at the foot, and frequently presented itself until half way up
the ascent, where it totally disappeared. About midway, there
were some dwarfish tufts of the ulex europeeus ; and a great
profusion of the genista viscosa, the euphorbia dendroides, and
the atractylis humilis — the former plentifully, the latter thinly
scattered, were found, with the car duns eriopliorus and the
b L’Eveque writes, that the great arch of the aqueduct is 100 feet, three inches,
wide between the pillars, and that, from the keystone of the arch to the bottom of the
rivulet, its height is nearly 206 feet, and 214 to the parapet. The plan published by
Wells in 1792, (from that presented to the Marquis of Pornbal,) makes the height of
the grand arch 226} English feet, and the width 108. I made the height, from the
bottom of the rivulet to the parapet, 222 English feet, by a barometer of Fortin’s,
which marked on the parapet wall 750.66, (thermometer 20f, thermometer detached,
20-}, centig.) and on the side terrace under the great arch, (5 feet above the bed
of the rivulet,) 756.50, (thermometer 20f, thermometer detached 20}.) The length
of the work at the valley of Alcantara is 2873g feet; the whole length of the
aqueduct (from its source at Canessas to Lisbon) is 56.380 feet, following sixty-five
windings and dingles.
AND PORTO SANTO.
7
verbascum thapsum, until I had ascended two-thirds of the way,
or about 1400 feet above the sea, where they disappeared: the
thymus vulgaris continued a little further. The scilla maritima
(in great beauty), the daphne gnidium (very flourishing but
dwarfish), the carduus acaulis, the eryngium tenue, the anethum
segetum (which seems to start out of the clefts of every roc.V,
yielding an unpleasant odour), continued from the foot of the
ascent to within a few feet of the summit. Two solitary plants
of the dipsacus fullonum grew about three-fourths of the way up,
and just beyond them appeared the echiuvn vidgare, thinly scat¬
tered.
The limestone only varied in its tints of the exterior surface,
which sometimes looked as if it had been covered with a mixture
of soot and ochre, and presented longitudinal furrows, resembling
woody fibres. I discovered no fetid odour on striking the dif¬
ferent masses, nor any trace of fossil remains ; but the nodules
of silex which it contained, evidently of cotemporaneous origin,
were frequent, and deeply impregnated with lime: occasionally
portions of common jasper, and, more rarely, of agate, were im¬
bedded. About half way up, I walked over vast sheets of this
limestone, more compact, mottled, and seemingly harder than
the rest; they were hewing it into mill-stones. The hillocks
which bordered the ascent were formed of detached pieces of silex
and lime imbedded in a loose earth : there appeared to be a breccia
of the same nature, not only above the limestone, but in one
instance intersecting it horizontally, in shallow beds. In the
lowest rocks, especially in the quarry north of the aqueduct, the
mass more frequently appeared crystalline, and once afforded
me prismatic crystals, the more compact masses adjoining which
were sometimes so happily sprinkled with green dots as to appear
dendritic. The highest point immediately west of the aqueduct,
and affording a view of the mouth of the river, still presented
s
EXCURSIONS IN MADEIRA
this transition limestone, and proved to be 564 feet above its
lowest visible bed (no other rock alternating with, or appearing
between it), or about 600 feet above the level of the seac Over
the thin layer of vegetable mould which covered the limestone,
were scattered large rounded blocks of a dark-coloured, compact
Uw?alt, glistening with crystals of horneblende, generally covered
with a moss ( hypnum intricat um ) on the part nearest the soil,
and with lichens ( patellaria ventosa and urceolaria occellata ) on
the upper surface d.
Ascending the hill which appears in the drawing, to the eastern
c Barometer 741.50, thermometer 20, thermometer detached 19a cent.
d I found three other lichens, which were not sufficiently advanced for me to
determine ; and a fourth, which I can only refer to the idiothalames heterogenes of
Acharius, having been unable to afford any works on cryptogamia, and my memoranda
being too limited to decide on species, or even genera in all cases. I intend, at present,
to send home drawings of the new genera and species of the zoology and botany of
the parts of Africa I may be enabled to visit ; and I hope to persevere in this plan
throughout my travel, even should it be extended to some years, by a reasonable
support on the part of the government. It takes away very much from the usefulness
of a travel, when it is attempted to save the trouble of making drawings, by substi¬
tuting for that concise description of the object, which will always suffice with an
accurate figure, a verbose detail of tiresome minutiaa, wholly uninteresting, and fre¬
quently unintelligible, without the aid of the pencil. The only probable difficulty is,
that no publisher will undertake the expense of having all these figures engraved, and
that they may thus be lost to the naturalist and others, who would feel an interest in
referring to them as illustrations of the text. Contemplating this probability, I deter¬
mined to obviate it in some degree, by regularly transmitting a set of these drawings
to Sir H. Davy, to deposit wherever he considers they may be most readily consulted
by the naturalists of my own country, who will always find them numbered so as to
correspond with the references in the text of my travels. I shall also transmit a
duplicate set of these drawings to Baron Cuvier, to be deposited for the same purpose
in the library of the French Institute. The two sets of 107 figures (several of which
are coloured) referred to in this first part, are forwarded with the manuscript.
Mrs. Bowdich, having’ reached England before the printing of the manuscript, has withdrawn the
above-mentioned figures, and published the greater number of them in the work itself. — Ed.
AND PORTO SANTO.
9
entrance of the aqueduct, I found above the limestone (but without
witnessing the contact), a basalt composed of a dark grey feldspath,
full of ochry red and yellow streaks and spots, mixed with shining
scales of oxide of iron, and having a granite-like texture and
appearance ; it seemed to descend in sheets, to the south. The
glass disclosed innumerable small grains of green earth, and it
passed into decomposing masses so thickly speckled with it, as to
assume the appearance of a porphyritic sandstone. Examining
the specimens I had separated from the blocks of basalt on the
opposite side, with a glass, I found they presented the same
spotted structure, with the addition of small crystals of hornblende.
The upper part of a decomposing mass of this basalt, dipping
towards the south, contained lamina; of talc passing into steatite,
and terminated eastward in a deposit of a deep-red ferruginous
earth. As I ascended to a wall, close behind the statue at the
entrance of the aqueduct, I found several blocks of basalt, similar
to those on the western height, and creeping through a large hole
in this wall to examine a hillock of the decomposing basalt (the
exterior surface of which yielded to the finger, and was profusely
speckled with green-earth), I picked up several loose pieces of
amygdaloid : the small oval cavities were generally filled with a
dull yellowish earth, and the cellular mass was of the same speckled
basalt. In one of the small hillocks there was a portion of con¬
glomerate, composed of earthy and crystallized lime, minute scales
of talc, and blunt fragments of red feldspath ; but the mass was
so small, so abruptly discontinued, and so nearly parallel with the
basaltic rock by the side of it, that I can say nothing of their
relative age. The clip of the limestone seemed to be to the
eastward, for its depth diminished in that direction ; and it dis¬
appeared on that side, at about 400 feet below the height to which
if reached on the western side. I had not time to follow it south-
C
10
EXCURSIONS IN MADEIRA
wards, for it grew dark before I had finished the present imperfect,
and limited examination of ite.
Not daring to venture as far as the granite rocks of Cintra,
(which are about 1600 feet above the level of the sea) from the
hourly expectation of the departure of the vessel to Madeira, I
contented myself, the following day, with crossing the river to
Almada. As I passed through the fish-market, I looked anxiously
for the peite espcida, a species of lepidopus, which has been de¬
scribed several times, and each time as new. The exterior cha¬
racter which struck me most, in addition to those of Cuvier’s
generic description, was a cartilaginous plate beneath the termi¬
nation of the mouth, on each side, like an undulating commissure
in a bird. I sent it to my lodgings, but it wras too far gone for
dissection when I returned ; I was, therefore, compelled to content
myself with a full length drawing, fig. 1 f. In searching for this
fish, I found a species of gadus, belonging to the division merluches
of Cuvier. The Portuguese called it pescadcis, and salted it like
the stock-fish, g. merluccius.
e Throughout the neighbourhood of the aqueduct and the ascent to the summits of
the neighbouring heights, a profusion of helices were scattered ; and the same abund¬
ance existed on the other side of the Tagus. I found them to belong to three
separate divisions of De Ferussac; but with the exception of the helix aspersa
(helicogena, groupe acavce,) and h. lactea, I had no means of determining the species :
another belonged to the helicellce, (gr. aplostomce ) and had a shining, delicate, trans¬
parent operculum. Numbers of the bulimus decollatus were to be met with at the
commencement of the ascent ; the upper whorls of the spires were always broken,
they were deserted by the animals, and laid just under the surface of the soil, parti¬
cularly near ant’s nests.
It was four feet four inches long, without scales, and of a silvery lead colour.
The anal fin had fourteen spiny rays, the dorsal forty-one, and the pectoral eleven
rays.
B It was of a silvery grey, the lower jaw longer than the upper, the body fiattened,
and the scales rather large ; the first dorsal fin had nine rays, the second thirty-nine,
the pectoral thirteen, the ventral seven, and the anal thirty-seven.
AND PORTO SANTO.
11
Nearly the same vegetation presented itself (the daphne gnidium
and euphorbia dendroides appearing to be the most plentiful), with
the addition of some beautiful little tufts of the anagallis cerulcea,
some large patches of the antirrhinum majus, and a yellow variety
of the achillea nobilis. The formation, however, was totally dif¬
ferent to the three which were in view on the northern side of the
river, viz., the granite at Cintra, the transition limestone above
Ajuda, and the basalt, capping the hills between the aqueduct
and the city. It was a range of calcaire grossier, or coarse shelly
limestone, about 300 feet high, and extending northwards some
miles along the river. It was soft but firm, frequently very sandy,
sometimes of an orange yellow (especially within), but generally
of a greenish and yellowish grey. Pebbles of silex were occa¬
sionally imbedded, and more frequently in masses resembling clay:
it soiled the fingers, effervesced moderately, and seemed deposited
in deep, horizontal, beds more compact upwards. The shells
wrere so thickly imbedded, that whole masses appeared to be
exclusively composed of them. They were all marine (with the
exception of the bulimus decollatus), and comprehended three
species of ostrea ( 0 . plicatula, O. edulis, and O. canalis), the
panopaa faujasii, the cyprina islandica, the pecten vulgare, and
p. saxatileh, with four species of terebratula, three of turritella , see
fig. 7 and 8, a cardita, a balanus, a nassa, a murex, a conus, with
one valve of a shell of considerable size, and of a bright orange
colour, fig. 2, which I do not recognise, and a smaller one of a
white colour, fig. 6, which cannot be referred either to tellina,
venus, or cytherea, but which resembles all of them*. The fucus
11 Rumphius, Cabinet d'Amboine, pi. xliv.
' The recent shells found among the rocks washed by the river, were the ostrea
plicatida, chama albida? anemia squamula, nassa communis , mytilus incurvatus,
cardium costatum, a venus, cytherea, meleagrina, several species of trochus, a murex,
patella, and immense masses of the balanus imperforatus.
12
EXCURSIONS IN MADEIRA
vesciculosus covered the rocks washed by the river, intermingled
here and there with an ulva, which I had not the means of
determining.
The next day (the 30th of September) we sailed, and soon
after we lost sight of land, encountered one of those south-westerly
gales which prevailed at that time, and which placed our ill-found,
high-decked, leaky schooner, in no small danger. Although the
cabin was closed down for four days, the state of the vessel was
such, that neither my baggage nor provisions escaped a soaking.
On the fourth evening, the weather calmed a little, and I made
regular observations on the temperature of the air and sea, and
on the moisture of the atmosphere (both with De Saussure's and
Leslie’s hygrometers), during the ten days that remained of our
passage to Madeira. It would not be worth while to compare
so small a number of observations in so limited a track, with those
of Baron de Humboldt, Dr. Davy, and others ; I shall, therefore,
defer doing so, until the remainder of my voyage has furnished
me with a greater extent and variety. My fellow-passengers were,
a Madeira dandy of the second class, returning from the fashion¬
able grand tour which was to complete his education, and to
furnish him with matter for conversation and reflection the re¬
mainder of his life ; and which is conveniently, economically, and
rapidly performed, by paying about £5 for a passage by the Por¬
tuguese packet, which returns from Madeira to Lisbon by way of
the Azores, so as to have the opportunity of spending a few hours
in those classic islands, and the few days in Lisbon which precede
the departure of the next packet to Madeira. A Coimbra student,
returning to his native island after seven years absence (or as he
expressed it, after seven years study), with the title and degree of
Doctor of Canon Law, and a splendid diploma, decked with large
seals and green ribbons, and preserved in a long tin box, which
he opened with prodigious form for our inspection, on his first
AND PORTO SANTO.
13
appearance from the steerage after the storm, arrayed in a cocked
hat and a dressing gown. A countryman of my own, who, having
worked his way up, by activity and long service, from before the
mast to the rank of master’s mate in the navy, had been solaced
just after he was thrown out of employ, by a small legacy from an
old aunt, and had been persuaded to give up his intention of
joining Mr. Birkbeck, for the more profitable scheme of collecting
orchil, shooting gullsk, and rabbits, and cultivating potatoes on the
Desertas, the right of which he had purchased for £200 of a
Portuguese marchioness, who wanted to raise the wind to make
good her engagements as lady patroness, and joint proprietor of a
corps of twenty-two French comedians, with whom I had the
misfortune to sail in a small brig from Havre to Lisbon, and who
would have run the supply of water rather hard during our long
passage, had not the ladies (one of whom had sailed in the Nile
and seen crocodiles) declared, from the moment of coming on
board, that a coffee-cup fairly filled for each, was quite as much
as they had been in the habit of using for their daily ablutions.
An American gentleman, of polished manners and most obliging
disposition, a younger son, as I afterwards learned, of one of the
richest merchants of Philadelphia, who, after a three year’s tour
k These gulls are salted and sold to the poorer Portuguese, who boil them in their
soup. The one I examined, appeared to be a variety of the larus marinus et ncevius of
Gmelin, but the head was black (tipped with brown) instead of yellow, and the legs
grey instead of reddish; the plumage of its throat was as white as that of the belly,
which was however speckled with brownish grey ; the under feathers of the tail were
also white and tipped with brownish grey ; the under feathers of the wings were of the
same grey, the upper part of the head of a light grey, the back and neck thickly
speckled with greyish brown ; the long feathers of the wings were of the same colour,
the remiges dark brown ; the short upper feathers of the tail white, speckled with
greyish brown; the longer feathers greyish brown, irregularly speckled with white : it
measured four feet five inches between the tips of the extended wings, and one foot
eleven inches in length.
14
EXCURSIONS IN MADEIRA
through the British islands and the continent, was returning full
of valuable information and sound reflection, enhanced by the
most amiable modesty, to relate all he had seen, heard, and
thought, to a venerable father, who had cheerfully toiled himself,
to afford a family of five sons, successively as they had finished
their studies, the same liberal indulgence, with equally liberal
means, by which my companion had so amply profited. When a
prudent man, more or less uneducated himself, not only devotes
a part of the savings of a life of labour, but labours still, even in
the decline of life, to afford a large family of sons the pleasure and
advantage of extensive travel, of which he has been entirely
deprived, it marks a greatness of mind, more enviable and more
honourable than the highest degree of cultivation. I never felt so
reluctant to part with an individual with whom I had so short an
acquaintance, as I did to part with this young man, who soon
found a vessel in which he might proceed to Teneriffe.
The only fish we caught, were the coryphena kippuris, (which
the sailors dried and dressed, but found very oily at the extremi¬
ties, and very dry in the middle) and a bream, which proved ex¬
cellent eating, and answered to Pennant’s description of the spams
brama of Linnaeus, excepting, that it had only one row of very
small, fine teeth, and that it was one foot eight inches in length.
Both these fish were caught during a light breeze in latitude 34°,
longitude 10° W. The next day, we fell in with two immense
logs of American pine, which the captain hove to for, and took
aboard. They were completely water-logged, and covered with a
continued mass of the lepas anatifera ; of the several hundreds,
which I had thus unexpectedly an opportunity of examining, there
was not one with more or less than five valves1. These logs were
also full of the teredo navalis, and a species not described by Cuvier,
. 1 Vide Cuvier, Regne Animal, \ ol. II., p. 506.
AND PORTO SANTO.
15
but which I found, on referring to my extracts, to be the teredo
gigantea, so accurately figured in Home’s Comparative Anatomy : I
was surprised to find, however, that the longest did not measure
more than four inches m, which was also the ordinary length of the
t. navalis ; they had all bored in the direction of the grain of the
wood. A small crab, fig. 3, a and b, which I conceive to be a new
species of planes, was found in great numbers amongst the anatifera*.
I kept a small net constantly floating for molluscae, but neither
caught nor saw any ; and, although we shot several water-birds
long before we made Porto Santo, they all floated past out of
reach. The phosphorescence of the sea was evidently produced
by a pink rotifera, which we fished up in buckets, and which re¬
newed its expiring light whenever the water was agitated, but did
not induce any difference of temperature in it, as far as I could
judge by an ordinary thermometer. I could not help remarking
that our approach to the island, both before and after we saw it,
was not accompanied by alga of any description ; indeed, there
are very few to be met with in Madeira, probably, from the ex¬
treme depth of the sea close in to the shore : a small frond of green
ulva was brought to me, (adhering to a piece of coralline) which
I also saw on the rocks, just raising their heads out of the sea,
between Funchal and Brazen-head, or Garajao. A species of
sertidaria proper was dragged up, close to these rocks, which seems
to form an exception to the general character of the horny stem,
it being calcareous ; the colour was a dead white, and it was
attached to a mass of earth and coralline, by a root like that of a
fucus ; on peeling off the calcareous matter, a stem, also like that
ra It was a cream coloured, transparent white, with a light brown streak down the
middle ; the valves calcareous, of an uneven surface, and white.
n It was of a delicate, but bright, rose colour : from the symmetrical form of its
test (notched so regularly as to increase the projection and distinctness of its chaperon,)
it may be called p. clypeatus.
16
EXCURSIONS IN MADEIRA
of a fucus, was found within, and proved to be hollow. On the
branches were several aviculce, covered with long spines, and with
one of the ears extremely long : the species not being described by
Lamarck, and not recollecting to have seen it, I have made a
drawing of that, and a part of the sertularia, fig. 5. A nomice were
attached to these shells, and also to the sertularia ; and on a broken
valve was a fragment of the siliquaria echinata. The whole was of
an elegant, arborescent form, and extremely interesting, from the
combination of objects which it presented.
■S Jiowcfa'Ji dat et'&j
AND PORTO SANTO.
17
CHAPTER II.
Mount Church. — Geology of Western Cliffs. — Lava. — Hut of Idiot.
— Waterfall. — Tutinegro. — Corn-Mills. — Ariero. — Camera de
lobos. — Sida carpinifolia. — Cliff. — Pao Branco. — Coural das Frei-
ras. — First attempt to go to Pico Ruivo. — Second attempt. — Ferns.
— St. Vicente. — House of Donna Anna. — Poul da Serra. — Pico da
Cruz. — Second Excursion to the W esticard. — Malmsey Plantation.
— Cavern. — Brazen Head. — Excursions to the Easticard. — St. Cruz
Machico. — The Lagoa. — Concluding remarks.
NONE of the several vessels, we found at anchor in the bay of
Funchal, being bound for Sierra Leone, and none being imme¬
diately expected, I prepared to make some excursions into the
interior of the island. To those who have visited the tropics,
nothing can be more gratifying, than to find the trees they have
there dwelt on with so much pleasure, and which are decidedly
the most beautiful of that part of the creation, — to be reminded of
the vast solitudes, where vegetable nature seems to reign uncon¬
trolled and untouched, — to see the bright blue sky through the
delicate pinnated leaves of the mimosa, whilst the wood strawberry
at its feet, recalls the still dearer recollection of home, — to gather
the fallen guavas with one hand, and the blackberry with the other,
— to be able to choose between the apples and cherries of Europe,
D
18
EXCURSIONS IN MADEIRA
(which are so much regretted) and the banana ; — it is this feeling
which makes Madeira so delightful, independent of its beautiful
scenery, and the constancy and softness of its temperature.
The country at the back, and sides of Funchal, presents the
broken outline of a segment of a vast natural amphitheatre, of
basaltic peaks and mountains, — rising to 3800 0 feet behind the
Mount Church, which is the most striking edifice in this beautiful
landscape, and is elevated 1900 p feet above the sea, presenting the
most picturesque breaks and vistas, — intersected by ravines and
torrents, — and covered with undulating and rugged ridges, and
sheets of basalt, diverging from the more central heights, and de¬
scending boldly to the sea, like the gigantic buttresses of some vast
interior mountain, and indicating so distinctly the courses of the
igneous streams which enveloped the island, that they seem as il
they had been arrested and indurated as they flowed, as an
evidence for future ages. The prodigious space of time this
originally undulating and furrowed surface has been worn by
heavy rains and torrents, explains the increased depths of the
ravines and ridges. I hastened to the western beach, to interro¬
gate the natural section, which the attacks of the sea have wrought,
by gradually wearing away, and undermining the inclined plane, in
which the streams of basalt had descended to the water’s edge.
I descended the ravine to the westward, and turning towards the
town from the beach, I found myself beside the cliffs of tufa and
basalt, which had struck me so forcibly as I walked from the Loo
° Oct. 31, B. 670.25, T. 15J C. T.d. 60 F. \5\ C. 1 P.M., Sauss. Hyg. 98:
corresponding observations at the turret of Mr. Veitch’s house in Funchal (154 feet
above the level of the sea), 764.35. T. 22|. T-d. 70| F., 21 1 C. Sauss. Hyg. 66, —
giving 3812 feet.
p 717.10, T. 24£ C. T.d. 69J F. 20.8 C. Sauss. Hyg. 62. 2\ P.M., at turret 764.
28, T. 224 C. T.d. 70| F. 21^ C. Sauss. Hyg. 65. Leslie’s Hyg. 4, — giving 1916
feet.
AND POIITO SANTO.
19
landing place, on my first arrival. This line of cliff, which extends
to the bay, or break, in which the town is situated, a distance of
about three-quarters of a mile, varies in height from fifty to one
hundred feet ; and its natural sections disclose additional features,
as you approach the isthmus of rock which forms the Pontinha.
At its western termination, or close to the ravine, we find the fol¬
lowing section, raising our eyes from the base : — a yellowish tufa,
almost hidden by the large masses of basalt and tufa which have
fallen from above, seven feet of scoriae, or cinder, ten feet of
yellow tufa, seven feet of scoriae, with narrow horizontal ribands,
or veins of tufa, six feet of red tufa, fifteen feet of compact colum¬
nar basalt : all these beds are more or less horizontal, only varying
from that position by slips. As we walk to the eastward, the
section deepens gradually to about 100 feet, and the yellow tufa
at the base, becoming more exposed, discloses two horizontal bands
(varying from 2 to 3| feet) of angular, and more or less rounded,
fragments of pumice, the largest not exceeding the size of a walnut,
and inserted as thickly as possible in yellow tufa. A close view
would not have conveyed an idea of the appearance of this section
so clearly, as that which is adjoined to the present description,
plate 3 A, which was taken from the Pontinha, somewhat less than
half a mile distant, and is a faithful representation, not only of the
depth and outline, but of the colours of the beds or strata. I
found a poor family living in a spacious apartment, which they
had hollowed out of the yellow tufa, and which made a much
more comfortable dwelling than their ordinary habitations : the
peasantry frequently make cellars and out-houses in the scoriae.
Immediately after, or at about COO yards from the Pontinha, the
upper columnar basalt is abruptly discontinued, not from having
been removed, but from this point being the eastern limit of the
stream out of which this face, or section, has been created, and
from no other stream of this upper basalt having directed itself
20
EXCURSIONS IN MADEIRA
toward the sea between this point of the cliff, and that close to
the Pontinha, on the east. Of this we may easily satisfy ourselves,
by examining the direction of the basalt ridges which mark the
course of the streams, and the surface of the country behind, and
level with the cliff inland. For some distance, the cliff presents
nothing but the beds of tufa, scoriae, and pumice, in short, precisely
the same as the section drawn, taking away the beds of columnar
basalt; but a slip on the eastward terminates in the appearance of
scoriaceous basalt, beneath the yellow tufa, which has hitherto
formed the lowest bed of our section, and that, as if it were a
prolongation of the band of scoriae, and had forced its way through
the yellow tufa, thus,
The breadth of this stream of scoriaceous basalt, is about seventy
yards ; the depth of the upper, or vaulted part, as seen in the
drawing, Plate 3, B, is about twenty feet, that of the lower part,
(which is composed of sheets and ridges running into the sea, and
dipping to the south, in an angle of 20°) is seldom more than four
feet. Beneath this scoriaceous basalt is red, passing into yellow
tufa, with a band of pumice, at the lowest visible part of the bed,
which is about ten feet deep when it is lost sight of : this lowest
tufa, scarcely discoverable in the cavernous part of the scoriaceous
basalt, is best seen in the break close to the left of the hut, in the
drawing.
The cells, of which this lower, or scoriaceous basalt is full, are
generally long and narrow ; in a perpendicular section they appear
confused, but when the basalt has been cleft in an inclined plane,
parallel with its dip, it becomes evident, that these cells, (always
1)
P7'3
1?
SJtowdtc/r dfZ-
AND PORTO SANTO.
21
empty) are in the same direction as the stream. So abundantly
have the gases escaped in the parts near the surface, that the cavities
are considerable, probably from the cells left by the gases having
been so close and frequent as to communicate with each other, and
from their slight and imperfect partitions being subsequently
obliterated by decomposition. The sides of these ridges present
larger cells ; continued projecting ledges, twists, and folds ; and
look in every respect like igneous streams, suddenly petrified.
In the cavernous part (represented in the drawing) this scoriaceous
basalt, particularly open to the attack of destructive elements, from
its numerous cells, is in such an advanced state of decomposition,
that it looks like a dark brown indurated mud, in which more
obdurate masses are here and there imbedded. But the shallower
vaulted cavities, which we remark in the lower part of these ridges,
are probably owing to the heated stream of basalt having passed
over some patches of water left by the retiring tide, just before it
reached the sea, which, being immediately converted into vapour,
raised these vaults above the parts where they were developed and
liberated. This scoriaceous basalt, where it is not in an advanced
state of decomposition, is full as hard as the compact, but of a less
specific gravity q.
Bearing in mind, that the streams of scoriaceous basalt presenting
these characters, have flowed directly into the sea, which still
washes over them, and that the columnar basalt crowns the tops
of the cliffs only, (which are from fifty to one hundred feet above
the level of the sea) it is evident, that sudden congelation, instead
of producing such an arrangement of particles, as M. Faujas sup¬
posed, entirely prevents itr. We shall presently find too, that the
q Compact basalt, 2.9. Scoriaceous basalt, 2.6 : by Guyton’s glass Areometer,
and in distilled water. Red tufa, 1.75. Yellow tufa, 1.94.
r In the natural section close to the Pontinha on the east, the columns are more
symmetrical than to the west; and the basalt, where it has been broken away by the
workmen, presenting transverse cracks, and a hackly appearance. Plate 3, C.
22
EXCURSIONS IN MADEIRA
most symmetrical prisms are exposed on the faces of the moun¬
tains, and form the most elevated range at the sides of the inland
valleys, where they could never have been in contact with the
torrents which flow beneath, and which could not have existed
when the streams of basalt were first ejected from the crater.
The opinion, that the columnar structure natural to the basalt has
been developed by the continued action of streams of water, which
formerly washed, but now flow beneath it, from having in the
course of ages hollowed out a much deeper bed than that which
it occupied in the first instance; this opinion struck me as very
probable, until I remarked the position of the columnar basalt just
alluded to, and represented in the coloured sketches, Plate 3, A, C,
and of that exposed high up on the sides of mountains, remote
from valleys, where it must have always been, like the columnar
basalt crowning the cliffs at the sea-side, out of the reach of the
action of water, unless we take into account the heavy rains, and
the torrents poured out from the crater during eruptions, causes,
seemingly too transient, to be adequate to the effect, which could
only be ascribed to a long and continued action on the part of the
waters. Could the above opinion have been established, we might
have estimated, by comparing the actual depth of these ravines, or
valleys, with the observed increase of that depth, in a known period
of time, the probable age of the basalt. The valleys or ravines of
Madeira have, of course, been deepened by the agency of water, but
I cannot consider that they have been entirely formed by it : the
various and partial directions of the streams of basalt, as they de¬
scended from the crater to the sea, and the pre-existing hills and
valleys (for we shall presently discover that the base of the island
is of a transition, if not of a primitive formation), being no doubt
the primary causes.
The columnar basalt is, generally speaking, compact, of a broad
conchoidal fracture, splitting in horizontal laminae, or at right
angles to the prism, dark grey within, or on the surface of a fresh
A
TJjJV.
AND PORTO SANTO.
23
fracture, which becomes covered with a superficial, decomposing
coat of brownish red, with age, inducing brittleness, and passing
ultimately into yellowish white, and dull brown ; a moderately thin
plate of the columnar basalt, when covered exteriorly with red
powder, will snap between the fingers. There are narrow beds
both above and below these columns, and frequently between
them, of shapeless fragments of basalt, very frangible, of an earthy
fracture, generally about the size of a walnut, imbedded in, or
thickly coated with a friable earth, resembling the tufa. In the
columnar basalt immediately above the beach, this conglomerate
is not above eight inches deep, the imbedding earth resembles the
yellow tufa, and the fragments are not porous, which they are,
minutely, throughout the inland section, about a quarter of a mile
behind it, on the right as you descend to the second ravine west
of the town. Descending this ravine to the beach, we have
columns of porous basalt on the right, with beds of conglomerate
above and below it, the latter about four feet, and the former about
six in its greatest depth : the fragments imbedded are here much
larger, in some instances have lost their colouring matter entirely,
and disclose the fer oxydule (which is not distinguishable in the
basalt before decomposition) in black specks. I no where ob¬
served this loose conglomerate in longitudinal fines, or patches
between the columns, (which were always vertical) but only in
beds above and below them, and that, not only in the direction of
the dip, but in that of the drift fine; wherefore I concluded, that
it could not be the result of a partial decomposition of the basalt,
and this wTas afterwards confirmed, by finding large masses of lava,
as perfect as that from the crater of Teneriffe8, imbedded con-
5 I have no memoranda either of Haiiy’s or Faujas’ classification of lavas, but this
is of a reddish brown, and might well be called vermiform, for it looks like a surface
covered with a mass of leeches, erecting their bodies as if in the act of regorging. I
compared it with a specimen just brought from Teneriffe, by a Russian gentleman,
Mr. J. Thai.
21
EXCURSIONS IN MADEIRA
fusedly in this conglomerate, beneath, and between the porous
basalt at Praia Formosa. To the eastward of F unchal, this con¬
glomerate matter increases in proportion, and is insinuated between
the more compact masses of basalt in vast patches, as if it had
flowed down, and been deposited at the same time with it. The
olivine of the compact basalt near the coast, and in the immediate
environs of Funchal, is generally granular ; it was not evident in
any state in the scoriaceous basalt. I observed several pieces of
basalt in the walls about Madeira, containing mammillated car¬
bonate of lime ; the mammillae about the size of small shot, gene¬
rally separate, and always in a cell, sometimes large enough to
contain several ; so that they would appear to be infiltrations ;
but I very rarely found it in the compact basalt near the sea, and
presume, these stones were broken from the fragments washed
down by the torrents from the interior. The fer oxt/dule prin¬
cipally characterizes the red tufa (which indurates by exposure to
the air, and forms a building stone), though it sometimes affords
long flat prisms of common horneblende, and acts more powerfully
on the needle than the yellow, which sometimes contains small
glistening particles of feldspath : both give out innumerable bub¬
bles of air when put into water ; but I shall have occasion to
describe them more particularly, when speaking of the best soils
for the vines of Madeira, and will only mention here, that when
the red tufa is in immediate contact with the porous basalt above
it, (as in the ravine descending to the beach) it is formed into
small pentagonal prisms, about 2 inches in length, and If in dia>-
meter; in this case it is of a reddish brown, looks like a baked
clay, and its specific gravity is increased to 2.06. Some of the
pumice fragments (evidently not ejected until the scoriaceous
basalt had flowed and deposited itself), imbedded in the yellow
tufa of the ravine by which I descended to the beach, contained
minute crystals of horneblende ; its colour w as yellowish, its struc¬
ture more frequently porous than cellular, rarely fibrous, (therefore
AND PORTO SANTO.
25
probably, not formed at a very considerable depth beneath the
surface of the globe), and it was always supernatant \ If I am not
mistaken, pumice has not hitherto been found with basalt ; when
I picked up a detached morsel on my landing, it led me to expect
a trachytic formation : I do not think there is a trace of obsidian
in the island. The scoriae, especially in the inland sections, are
frequently coated with a shining matter, generally pale brown, but
sometimes black, and of a bituminous appearance ; it did not
detonate however with nitre, nor did it lose its colour or lustre at
a red heat. A grey crustaceous lichen ( idiothalames Ach.) covers
the porous and compact basalt, (in patches, ring within ring) and
is generally accompanied by another, equally crustaceous, but more
delicate in form, and of a deep orange. A third forms large light
coloured patches on the inland basaltic rocks, and is so abundant,
that in several instances it gives a different hue to that part of the
landscape11. All the lichens of Madeira are extremely interesting,
from their abundance or beauty; but, for the before-mentioned
reason, I have only been able to refer some of them to the great
divisions of Acharius. The anethum starts out from the rocks in
the same way as at Lisbon, and is found in great quantities on the
sea-shore; the ferula glauca is abundant. The only species of
cactus which can decidedly be pronounced indigenous, is the
c. opuntia, which only grows on the rocks nearest the sea".
1 M. Guillin, after a mere glance at Funchal and its bay, has not hesitated to assert,
“ que la lave qu’on trouve a Madere n’a aucune partie vitrifiee, ni aucune veritable
pierre ponce.” See the Appendix of the Voyage de Bory St. Vincent.
u Genus, thallus crustaceus, pallidus. Scutellce albce, in thallo centralis.
" The recent shells which I found scattered over the black ferruginous sand, and
amongst the basaltic pebbles of the beach, were a murex, a tritonia 1 (brown, with
darker stripes, and yellow lips) ; murex , (white) ; a purpura, (dusky brown) ; a coloni-
bella, (white) ; a broken specimen of the argronauta tuberculosa, and an avicula, light
brown, mottled with black towards the beaks. The patella plicata abounds on the
E
26
EXCURSIONS IN MADEIRA
The little cabin, which contrasts its cheerful colour to the
gloomy tint and blistered aspect of the basaltic caverns, on whose
margin it seems to totter, and the crumbling scoriae of whose
vaults, appear to hang together so loosely, as to be ready to sink
beneath its weight, and to bury it in cinders ; this little hut,
erected as it were on the ruins of a former world, rocked by every
wind, and dashed by every southern surge, is inhabited by a poor
maniac, who, being robbed, by a brother, of all the savings of a life
of labour, at the very moment the old age they were to solace
began to creep upon him, lost his reason, not, as might have been
expected, to revile that providence, which for some wise reason
we might have excused one of his class from crediting, had failed
to protect him, but peaceably, and without harming the most insig¬
nificant object about him, to raise rude altars to his God, and to
deck his garden-wall with crowns of thorns, in honour of his
Redeemer, and rudely cut stones (for they could scarcely be called
figures), in memory of his Apostles. A vacant smile played for a
moment on his sad face, as I stopped to examine, and as he
thought, to admire these highly-prized ornaments of his dwelling,
which seemed to be richer in this respect, in his eye, than the
most splendid cathedral; and the look of distress and emotion,
which followed the unwonted smile my respectful forbearance had
induced, when a troop of idle boys discharged a volley of stones
from the beach, and destroyed the greater number of the rude
images he had raised with so much labour and so devoutly revered ;
the look he gave me at this moment of wanton cruelty, went to
my heart. This was not the mania which too often follows a
blind and gross superstition, it was the pure, natural, and volun-
rocks, with several others of the genus ; one was of a dull light green, with blackish
brown stripes, and another of a dull grey spotted with brown, with the apex lighter.
The branchiae of the animals of these patellce were not interrupted, and all are eaten.
AND PORTO SANTO.
2?
tary feeling of the heart, undirected, but not unabated, from the
loss of reason.
I lost no time in beginning my excursions into the interior, and
first visited the waterfall, which is about three hours walk from
Funchal. The most direct route, is to descend into the ravine of
the first torrent to the westward of the town, and to follow it
until it is terminated by the fall. The bed of the torrent over
which you walk, for there is no path, is full of immense, rolled,
masses of basalt, nodules, and amygdaloidal fragments of all forms
and sizes ; leaving gaps of surface between, occasionally strewed
with ferruginous sand, from the decomposition of the masses of
tufa which have been swept down by the torrent. The whole
distance is to be performed by stepping and jumping from block
to block, (which, when they become slippery after rain, is not a
little hazardous) and descending at rare intervals, to walk over
sharp stones and sliding pebbles. To quit the torrent, and scram¬
ble over the hills and basaltic rocks which bound it on each side,
is to lose yourself and the objects of the journey, as I found in my
first attempt to reach it. Don Joze Monteiro kindly volunteered to
accompany me the second time, and proceeding westward from the
Mount Church, we descended with some difficulty into the torrent,
at about half way between the waterfall and the mouth \ The lower
part of our descent was variegated with pclargonia, the digitalis
purpurea, and various composite, umbclliferee, and ferns ; the two
latter extending to the bed of the torrent, where they were
mingled with hepatica and water-cresses. The adiantum A fricanum
grows abundantly, and lines every little cave hollowed out of the
rocks by the streams, but the inhabitants make no use of it ; pro¬
bably, this species, although so similar to the a. capillus veneris ,
x We passed over several patches of red earth, apparently resulting from the decom¬
position of the tufa and basalt, but it seemed to me, to be highly unfavourable to
vegetation.
E 2
28
EXCURSIONS IN MADEIRA
may not answer the same purposed Here the fragments of basalt
left by the torrent, which could sweep them no further, were of
an enormous size. The rocks on each side are of basalt, fre¬
quently columnar, covered with a decomposing red earth, and from
three to 500 feet high. The numerous horizontal projections of
these rocks contained small natural basins, or reservoirs of water,
looking like the baths of the wood nymphs, and there were traces
of waterfalls in all directions. The large vinhaticos, with their
dark shining leaves, were frequent near the bed of the torrent, and
presented immense trunks in a state of decay ; whilst the til grew
out of the rocks on each side, its tint varying with age, from a
lively, to a deep green, and mingled with long grass. The ravine
winds beautifvdly, and every turn seemed to promise us a sight of
the fall, reconciling us to the successive disappointments, by some
additional charm or variety in the scenery : we heard the noise of
the water about half a mile off. A beautiful feathery lichen waved
on the fragments of basalt, which had acquired a silky polish from
the water occasionally flowing over them ; and an abundance of
the mentha gratissima delighted the eye with its pretty flower, and
shed its rich fragrance most profusely. The entire depth of the fall
seemed to be about 300 feet, but there is a break after the first 100
feet ; the sheets of water are received in a deep natural reservoir,
(2° cooler than the temperature of the shade, which was 54°,) and
scattered a shower of glistening particles during their fall, gra¬
dually dispersing in a silvery mist, which seemed to shed a per¬
petual spring over the vegetation around. We sat to contemplate
its beauty on gigantic masses of basalt, which attested the ravages
of the torrent, and struck us with awe, as we raised our eyes to the
heights from which they had fallen. Few winters pass without
some of the unfortunate peasants being crushed or precipitated, as
they fearlessly and gaily carry their burdens of fire-wood along
y The making of capillaire.
AND PORTO SANTO.
29
the narrow, rugged margins of these awful precipices. All prospect
was shut out by the steep rocks, which the last winding of the
ravine placed at our backs; every passage appeared blocked up;
there was no distance but in height, and it seemed as if no extra¬
neous thought were to be admitted, whilst we contemplated the
majesty of nature. There is a lower stratum of the red tufa
nearly horizontal, covered by a considerable depth of basalt ; above
is a second stratum of the red tufa, dipping rapidly to the south.
This ravine is inhabited by that beautiful species of owl, the strix
flammea. The tutinegro, so much admired for the melody of its note,
is a species of nightingale, ( curruca, Bechst.) z one third less than
that of Europe. I saw another and more curious bird, fig. 28, but
I doubt if it is a native of the island. The outline of the beak
most resembles that of the widow-bird, (vidua, Cuv.) but the
commissure is situated like that of the grakle, ( gracula, Cuv.)
immediately beneath the nostril, and forms a much deeper angle ;
it evidently belongs to the conirostres of Cuvier, and I should place
it under the name of goniaphea, between fringilla and cort/thus a.
I could not but remark the simplicity of the corn-mills which are
pretty frequent on the margin of this torrent, every man being
now allowed to grind his own corn, or his neighbour's, whereas,
before the constitution, it was a monoply inherited by a single
noble family, whose agents charged three times the present price.
The two stones are hewn out of the columnar basalt, and from the
vast fall and body of water (conducted through a wooden shute)
which they can afford, they use but one single cross bar or wheel,
* See Bowdich’s Introduction to the Ornithology of Cuvier, p. 40. It is of an olive
colour, with a black patch on its head, feeds on guavas, figs, and worms, rests in
trees, and sings by day. I should name it, c. melanocephcda.
a The upper mandible closes over the lower, and the middle toe is longer than the
others; the whole bird is black, with the exception of the head, which is azure.
G. leucocephala.
30
EXCURSIONS IN MADEIRA
and even place this horizontally, the force being sufficient to keep
up its rotatory motion in this unfavourable position.
My next excursion was to the peak of Ariero, on the eastern
side of the Coural, and about three hours ride from Funchal.
Approaching the Mount Church, we find beautiful chesnut woods,
clothing the sides of the precipices ; and in the rugged path which
commences above this building, I was astonished to find the elegant
fuchsia coccinea, and the blushing rosa Benghalensis, both of which
had evidently strayed from the neighbouring gardens. I have not
been able satisfactorily to separate the naturalized and indigenous
solaneee ; the s. cerasiforme grew higher than the others, but it had
probably strayed from the gardens above this church. The sides
of the hills presented the most beautiful contrast of tints, from the
large patches of erica, broom, and evergreen shrubs ; the digitalis
; purpurea , appeared by every stream or spring. The myrtles are
very beautiful, and grow luxuriantly ; they extend to a height of
3000 feet, but they certainly do not amount to forests, or even
thickets, nor do any reach the region of the Vaccinia b : they were
formerly much more numerous, having been injudiciously cut for
the ornamenting of churches and processions on religious festivals.
The latter part of the ascent is along the barren rocks of basalt
and red tufa, which form the highest outline of the view behind
from Funchal, and are 3700 feet above the sea. One sudden turn,
through a romantic pass, opens a fine valley with thickets of
laurels, dwarfish to be sure, but in such profusion as to clothe the
whole landscape ; whilst violets are growing at their roots. The
plain near the peak was covered with the vaccinium ; its leaves
turning red, but partially concealed the black berries ; and the
usnca lichen waved from one tree to the other, like masses of long
green hair. The pasturage looked rich, not merely from the fresh
b The lamented Professor Smith must have made both these assertions inadvertently
Introduction to the Narrative of the Expedition to the Zaire, p. lxviii.
AND PORTO SANTO.
31
green of the grass, so constantly moistened by the vicinity of the
clouds, but from the young shoots of erica ; and where the masses
of tufa, and superincumbent soil had fallen from the heights, the
roots of the laurels and arborescent heaths were left bare, twisted
like serpents. I passed a small natural excavation, which disclosed
several strata of tufa and scoriae, which seemed to be the beacon
of my guide, who remained there ; and in a few minutes after, I
reached the summit of the peak of Ariero, amidst a thick mist,
like small rain, which entirely deprived me of the view I had
promised myself. The temperature, in consequence of a strong-
north wind, was lowered to 43°, being 28° less than I had ex¬
perienced three hours before, in the shade at F unchal ; the peak
is 5446 feet above the seac. The juncus glaucus abounds on the
highest parts of this eastern side of the island ; the constant
moisture of the air, perhaps, accounts for its luxurious growth, so
far removed from any stream.
I started the next day for the Coural das Freiras, apprehensive,
that the wished-for arrival of a vessel for Sierra Leone, might not
leave me the time to do so. The road from F unchal to Camera de
Lobos, (where you quit the sea, and ascend to the interior of the
island) is unusually bare of vegetation. The crustaceous lichens
form the principal feature, with here and there an euphorbia, a chei-
ranthus , scattered patches of the sida carpinifoliaA, and a few fig-
c Although southerly winds are announced by the fall, and northerly, by the rising
of the barometer, when in the lower regions of the atmosphere, yet the inverse seems
to happen in the upper. M. Ramond, when measuring elevated peaks, has observed
gusts of wind from the north, lower the mercury by raising the column of air, whilst
those from the south produced the contrary effect for the moment. These oscillations
extended from two to three tenths of a millimetre, even when the winds were by no
means strong. — Memoir es sur la Formule Barometrique de la Mecanique Celeste, p. 53.
A I have been told, that the poorer inhabitants drink the infusion of its leaves as tea,
but the known properties of the sida are so contrary to those of all other plants used
as tea, that I am inclined to give very little credit to it. The principal plants sub-
32
EXCURSIONS IN MADEIRA
trees starting from the clefts of the rocks, dwarfish and distorted :
they afford good, but small fruit, and seem, on the lower parts of
the island, to take the place of the laurels, which confine themselves
to the higher regions, unless cultivated. The road nearer the sea,
however, affords occasionally, in addition, the perfume of the mimosa
cor nut a, (the seeds of which I suppose have been introduced from
the coast of Africa) delightful at a short distance, but too power¬
ful when near. The grass, briza media, vulgarly called maiden¬
hair in England, abounds all over the western side of the island ;
nor must I omit to mention the oestrum vespertinum, ( bella noite of
the Portuguese) the flowers of which (although it is said to exhale
a noxious odour from its leaves) smell deliciously in the evening.
After passing the valley and torrent, where the ivrundo sagittata is
thickly planted, the approach and descent to Camera de Lobos
afforded some splendid cacti, rising to the height of small trees,
and with trunks or stems nearly as thick as my body : they were
the loftiest that I had ever seen of that species, with the excep¬
tion of those in the Botanic Garden at Lisbon. I should mention,
however, that there is a large mass of basalt in the bed of this
torrent, which is full of small cavities, lined with acicular crystals
of mesotype, interrupted here and there by bi-pyramidal, and pris¬
matic crystals of carbonate of lime, frequently an inch long. I did
stituted for the thea are, the symplocos alstonia, which was supposed by Baron de
Humboldt to have been infinitely beneficial to himself and M. Bonpland, from the
favourable action of its astringent and stimulating qualities on the gastric system, and
as a sudorific; they found it a powerful preservative against their frequent exposure
to rain on the Cordillieres: ( Plantes Gquinoxicdes, 1. 1., p. 185 :) — the camellia japonica,
which belongs to the theacece, and is much used even in China, and also possessing
astringent and stimulating qualities : the rhamnus teezans, the cussonia paragua, and
the ceanothus Americanus, which are all bitter, styptic, and act upon the nerves ;
whereas the sida, which belongs to the malvacece, is emollient and calming, ( Decan -
dolle. Essai sur les Prop. Medicales des Plants,) and did it act like the thea, would
be the first-known exception, to a family which has a remarkable unity of properties.
AND PORTO SANTO.
33
not find any rock similar to this in the neighbourhood, and I never
met with mesotype but in this fragment. Probably, like leucite, it
may only be found in the lower deposits, or those more ancient
streams which have flowed immediately from the mouth of the
crater. I here found two solitary plants of the weld ( reseda
luteola), neither used by, nor known to the natives. Turning
round to descend into the village of Camera de Lobos (where I
remarked thin flakes of carbonate of lime in the yellow tufa), we
are struck with the gigantic cliff which towers above it, the whole
depth of which, (1600 feet) is one vertical sheet of alternating,
shallow strata of basalt, tufa, and scoria?, ribbed from top to
bottom with narrow dikes of basalt ; but I shall return to this cliff
again, in sailing along the shore to the Fazenda dos Padres, and I
will only observe, that it would be an excellent spot for experi¬
ments on the downward velocity of sound. The opposite sketch,
Plate 4, A, was made near the top of the eastern hills, where the
appearance of the church steeple makes the towering grandeur of
the cliff the more striking.
By following the most western of the two roads to the Coural,
by Mr. Veitch’s Quinta (for there is another still more direct,
which does not pass that way), I should not have gone through
Camera de Lobos, which I determined to do, in order to ascend
and measure the Pao branco, the highest point on which I had
observed the vine to be cultivated in this direction. I found it
to be 1922 feet above the sea, and about 158 feet lower than the
bottom of the Coural das Freiras. In ascending the road to the Pao
branco, I found fragments of compact basalt with common pyrites,
(fer sulfure, HJ which is also found in the conglomerated frag¬
ments beneath the basalt at Campanario, mixed with olivine, pre¬
senting the pseudo-metallic colours which mark its decomposing
state. There is a chalybeate spring at Campanario, and also at
Machico, where the specimens are much more beautiful. The
F
34
EXCURSIONS IN MADEIRA
bronze yellow colour led me at first to expect it might be magnetic
pyrites, ( fer sulfure ferrifere, II. J but its slight effect on the
needle, and its chrystallized form, corrected the impression. Pyrites
have been cited in basalt, and there has been no doubt of the fact,
but I believe specimens have not yet reached any cabinet. I
descended again for a short distance, and turning to the north,
pursued my course to the Coural along the edges of the beautiful
ravines, which appear on the left, in going by the more direct road.
A slight, crazy railing occasionally edged the precipices, along
which the narrow path ascends ; but more frequently, there was
not even this fancied security to assure the passenger, while he
contemplated the awful depths beneath.
A conglomerate of fragments of porous and decomposing basalt,
above the upper or compact basalt, of inconsiderable depth, and
not general, was the only additional deposit to what I had observed
at the water-side. Basaltic dikes, intersecting the tufa, frequently
disclosed themselves in the sides of the ravines, which were highly
cultivated with the convolvulus batata, and an arum, which I shall
describe presently. The streams which usurp the bed of the tor¬
rent until the rainy season, flowed through thick tufts of water-
cresses ; the honeysuckles twisted round, and hung from one ches-
nut tree to another ; the brambles were bending under the weight
of their berries, and the wild strawberry was pushing forth its
compact foliage from the banks, which were lined with the most
elegant ferns, whilst the sides of almost all the precipices were
covered with vines. Here I found a plant much resembling the
physalis alkakengi, but which I think must be admitted as a new
genus ; as the capsule, seeds, and corolla all differ : the p. alkakengi
is too bitter to be eaten, but the Madeira genus makes tarts of an
agreeable, gooseberry-like flavor0. This is, I believe, the richest vine
' The Herschelia, which I have ventured to erect into a genus, has, I believe, been
figured by Curtis, as the physalis edulis : it bears very closely upon both atropa and
AND PORTO SANTO.
35
district, and the wine of Torre (which is close to the road on the
eastward) is perhaps the most esteemed of any in the island.
The upper basalt, on the side of the bed of the small torrent,
behind Mr. Veitch’s Quinta, (2700 feet above the sea,) was in an
advanced state of decomposition ; sometimes indeed being so soft
as to be sectile, which, as I can only attribute it to a continued
action of water, seems to me to indicate that the stream, which
now flows many feet beneath it, has gradually deepened its bed,
leaving the sides which it formerly washed, in the state we now
find them. The softer parts somewhat resemble the decomposing
basalt above the transition limestone at Lisbon ; in the harder, the
feldspath ground has acquired a light grey colour, and the long
flat crystals of common hornblende imbedded in it, are sometimes
glistening, hut more frequently in a dull mouldering state : the
latter makes a very good building stone. A little hepatica (sedg-
wickia hemispherica, fig. 25 ), which I believe to be quite new, grows
on the borders of the smaller streams f; and in the torrent, I found
the marchantia stellata, which, from the abundance of its brown
p hysalis : from the first it differs, because its corolla is wheel-shaped and not campanu-
late; the anther* are oblong; the stigma is not furrowed; the calyx is bladder-like,
and angular, and always of a pale, but bright green ; the stem hairy, and the leaves
alternate: to the physalis it presents the following contradictions, the shape of the
seeds, the position of the leaves, the flowers being always solitary, and the thick
hairiness of the inner part of the corolla, and of the whole plant :
Genus. Herschelia. Cal. 5-fidus. cor: calyce ultra duplum longior, rotata, quin-
quangulata, lutea, in centro purpurea, intus villosa. Stam. 5, filamenta filiformia,
anther* oblong*. Stig. capitatam. Bacca globosa, carnosa, calyce ampliato, vesi-
cario, angulato, tecta. Semina plurima, compressa, rotunda. Caulis suffrutescens,
subangulatus, villosus. Folia alterna, subcordiformia, acuminata, subintegra, villosa.
Flores solitarii, Sp. 1. H. edulis.
' Genus. Sedgtcickia. Frons aphylla, lobata, glandulis aquosis sparsa. Capsula
in fronde sessilis, centralis hemispherica. Seminula, nuda, compressa, membranacea,
in hemispheric capsul*. Frondes virides, pulcherrim*, fibris capillaribus ad terrain
adhserentes. Sp. 1. & hemispherica.
36
EXCURSIONS IN MADEIRA
silky fibres, forming large masses around the roots, may probably
be the plant feto brun (brown fern), reported by Vandelli to
Murphy, and mistaken for a fern. I could not even hear of this
fern, which, he says, is only found in Madeira, and produces fibres
of so fine a texture on the back of its fronds, that they may be
woven into a beautiful material for clothing. Here I had an op¬
portunity of remarking, that it is the Norway rat, (mas decumanus,)
which inhabits the interior of the island, although it only arrived
in Europe in the eighteenth century8; and, that the bat is more
than specifically distinct from all those which have, as yet, been
described, for it has four pointed incisors above (two by the side
of each canine, with a large interval between), and six small incisors
below, with three indentations in each. It forms a new sub-genus
between pharopas and cephalotes, and may be named, nyctalus
verrucosus h.
As I approached the heights which conduct to the brink of the
Coural, the chesnut-trees formed entire woods, and presented the
richest autumnal tints ; the salix rubra, and a great variety of
plants margined the streams, over which waved a beautiful fern,
frequently six feet in length ; the asperula aparine attached itself
to my clothes as I walked along, the violets abounded on the
banks, and the splendid bella donna lily’ presented itself in various
« Cuvier, Regne Animal, t. I. p. 197.
h NvxTaXoV, noctem amans. Suid : de Diogen. Cyn. The lower canines have a
heel. The muzzle and oreillettes are simple ; the ears are equal to the depth of the
head in length, and present clusters of orange warts on the outer part, and a few
within. It has a nail, and extra joint to the forefinger; three joints to the middle
finger, two to the others. The interfemoral membrane (not notched, but triangular)
reaches to within one line of the end of the tail, which is within it width, from
the tip of one wing to the other, Ilf in., from the muzzle to the tip of the tail 4^ in.,
colour, dusky brown.
' Lilium Madeirense . Calyce campanulato, laciniis subrectis basi subconniven-
tibus, sulco longitudinali, nectarifero nudo. Staminibus 6, filamentibus inaequalibus,
AND PORTO SANTO.
37
directions, raising its bright pink blossoms, which formed a beauti¬
ful contrast to its dark-coloured stem ; this last plant especially
contributed to give the landscape the appearance of a ruined
garden. I gathered several fungi amongst the thick turf ; one of
them was the common mushroom, but I did not hear of its being
eaten, and my guides expressed great alarm at my touching any
of them. The agaricus found amongst the chesnut-trees, grows
to an enormous size ; and another in the same locality answered
to the description of the a. aurantius, or the jaseron of the French.
The most remarkable, was one with a pale yellowish bark, wrinkled,
and full of small warts ; it had no stem above ground, nor did it
appear to have a volva : when divided, the inner part was greasy
and firm, and of a deep black ; the peasantry believe it to be a
dreadful poison, even to the touch k. The clavaria grows to a large
size, and is very abundant ; it does not confine itself to laurels alone,
but appears also on the chesnuts, or perhaps, any large tree.
Having reached almost the highest part of the road within view,
and being 3700 feet above the sea, you turn to the right, and
walking over a gentle ascent of thick turf, covered with broom
bushes, (on which the waving bags of a small spider are thickly
suspended), the feet are in an instant arrested, with an involuntary
shudder, and you tremble with surprise and awful admiration on
the brink of a tremendous precipice, 1634 feet deep. The basaltic
imis laciniis calycinis insertis, antheris striatis, arcuatis, capsula trigona, trivalvis
(duse saepe abortive,) polysperma. Seminibus planibus, caule nudo compresso.
spatha 2 phylla. Foliis radicalibus deciduis. Floribus corymbosis roseis. This
plant has been figured in Curtis’s Magazine, as the amaryllis bella donna. The posi¬
tion of the germen is alone sufficient for me to place it in the genus lilium, and
without this generic difference, the seeds being without wings would make it a dis¬
tinct species. Great doubts have been entertained as to its native country, and it has
been successively given to the East Indies, Africa, N. America, and Brazil. It has
already been introduced into England, but lost several times.
k Genus. - Globus nudus, sessilis, verrucosus, coriaceus, intus carnosus, com-
pactus, pinguis, ater. Fructif. ignota.
EXCURSIONS IN MADEIRA
38
rocks seem to have been blasted and shivered by the great con¬
vulsion which rent the foundation strata, and at once created this
stupendous valley, enlarged and deepened by the action of torrents
which have battered it for ages. The bare cold surfaces of these
rocks, rising and projecting in turrets and pinnacles, is finely con¬
trasted by the warm tints of the tufa, and the various greens of
the patches of vegetation which occasionally diversify them ; whilst
the rocky buttresses to the right are profusely covered with
laurel and chestnut-trees, and the torrent at the bottom rolls
through vineyards and gardens. The peak of Ruivo (the most
distant object) is distinguished by the verdure, which reaches to
its summit ; the crags to the right of it, called by the natives the
Torrinhas, or Turrets, vary the picturesque outline of the heights ;
the inclined summit of the Pico Ariero, which is distinguished,
even at the greatest distance, by the band of red tufa which colours
its northern base, whilst the glimpse of the sea adds to the impres¬
sion of distance, vastness, and sublimity, so powerfully excited by
the whole landscape. The church of Libramente, and the cottages
beneath it look like specks in the abyss, and the stillness of the
scene is only inten pted by the rude bells of the goats, as they
bound along the precipices. Plate 5.
The singular beauty of the Coural would make every one anxious
to draw it ; and many I believe have attempted it, but although
able artists, their attempts have fallen so short of the reality, that
the results have never been given to the world. Travellers who
have no reputation as artists to sustain, and who have never pro¬
duced drawings which would be depreciated by any subsequent
failure, may venture to offer the best sketches they are able to
make, when thoroughly convinced, that their descriptions will not
convey so good an idea of a scene, as even an imperfect drawing.
The obstacles which attend such a task, however, seem to defy
draw ing and water colours ; and, in my opinion, the only chance of
doing this landscape justice, would be to place an easel on the spot
A?
A./fVwdlcA, ~ : ,siiL/itU/K£S h(/uw
* •
AND PORTO SANTO.
•39
with a canvass of large dimensions, and there make an oil painting,
where every touch would be from nature ; the artist giving himself
time to seize the most favourable moments only, and which, in the
regular climate of Madeira, would occur daily at nearly the same
hours : for instance, he should be there at sunrise, to see the peaks
without clouds ; he must then wait until about two o'clock, to
catch the clearest outlines of the rocks of the rugged side; two
hours later would throw the buttresses projecting into the abyss
completely into view, with every crag and line distinct ; and sun¬
set would give him the glow that makes the whole valley so
lovely. The accompanying sketch was made in the course of two
mornings, and I can only hope that the geologist may be inte¬
rested by it, and that some skilful hand will yet have time, and feel
sufficient interest in the labour, to give the world a correct view of
this wonderful scene. It has been remarked, that had the drawing
been broader than long, it would have conveyed a better idea of
depth, but this was tried, and the proportions would not admit of
it ; each method of shading, with the light or dark foregrounds, was
also tried, but that adopted seemed best to me : this I think is the
grand obstacle to success, depth being generally given by the
deepest colouring, and by gradually losing outline in darkness,
whilst in the Coural, you even distinguish the houses at the depth
of 1500 feet, and every line is perfectly clear. The most minute
crags, however distant, continue distinct, from the clearness of the
atmosphere ; and it is almost impossible to preserve a light fore¬
ground, from the rich colouring and the quantity of deep verdure.
A morning mist was thrown over the rocks of the opposite side,
to give distance; and through that mist it was a matter of ho small
difficulty to preserve the outlines of the crags. The season being
unfavourable, hours were spent to catch the peak of Ruivo, and
the greater part of the second day’s labour was performed in the
rain. The dense mists which cover these heights, morning and
40
EXCURSIONS IN MADEIRA
night, are evidently referable to the causes detailed in the memoir
of Sir Humphry Davy. From the unequal degree and depth of
the cooling of the earth and sea, when losing caloric by radiation
after the setting of the sun, the surface of the sea, and, consequently,
the air which reposes on the sea during the night, becomes
warmer than the earth, and the air immediately upon it ; both
these airs, from the nature of the climate, and the locality of
Madeira, are always nearly saturated with humidity, and the fogs
or mists which arise from their mixture are unusually considerable,
from the depth of the sea and great elevation of the land : the
descending current of colder air mixes with the mist as it forms
on the surface of the water, whose comparative warmth keeps up
the ascent of the vapours, which thus continue to rise until after
the appearance of the sun ; they cover the volcanic peaks behind
F unchal, and at a later hour arrive at those of the other parts of
the interior, which they abandon after the setting of the sun for
the warmer surface of the ocean. In a country where there is no
rain for six months together, these regular mists conspire with the
torrents to fertilize whole tracts of land, which would otherwise
remain useless.
I started the next morning from Mr. Veitch’s Quinta, which is
about a mile below the view of the Coural das F reiras, to descend
into this beautiful valley on my way to the Pico Ruivo. The
road winds for nearly three miles, on the verge of the precipices,
before it reaches the point of descent ; and a succession of romantic
openings, of varied character, left me loth and unable to decide
which was the most sublime. I found the arnica montana, at a
height of 3500 feet, and it is said to grow even on Pico Ruivo : the
echium giganteum, not only the most beautiful of its family, but
in itself a magnificent tree, starts from the clefts of the rocks,
and enlivens the rugged soil with its large bunches of blue flowers,
and downy leaves. The rocks presented the same alternations
AND PORTO SANTO.
41
of basalt and. tufa, the former covered with greyish-green patches
of crustaceous lichens. The erica scoparia, and the arborescent
heath, (one of which measured eight feet in circumference,) were
mingled with the laurels on the sides of the precipices, and in
every sheltered nook. A beautiful lichen1, (belonging to the idio-
thalames of Acharius,) grew luxuriantly on the til laurel. But
the wonder and admiration we first bestow on the majesty of the
scene is, in the next moment, equally excited by the roads, which
the ingenuity and. perseverance of man has created here ; hewing
them out of vertical faces of solid rock, projecting them by
walls and earth from the very sides of impending crags, and join¬
ing peaks and gaps, which nature seemed to have disunited for
ever, as monuments of the great convulsion which rent the bosom
of the island. The engineer, Don Joze d'Alfonseca, has immorta¬
lized himself by this daring and useful undertaking, which has
connected the whole island ; the inland barriers, between the
various points, having been hitherto pronounced insurmountable,
as well as impassable, and a great part of the interior being con¬
sequently neglected and unknown ra.
Having rode for some time in a northward direction, we turn
to the east, and wind along the very brink of the perpendicular
precipices, which, like narrow walls, divide the more terrific
scenery of the southern abyss, from the milder beauties of the
northern. The first of these dividing ridges, for there are three,
pretty nearly equal in height, is 4161 feet above the sea, and 2081
above the bottom of the southern Coural. The temperature at
1 Genus. Frondes coriaceae, complanatse, in lobis verrucosis divisae, et farina atra
fronde inspersa, subtus virides. Scutellae super marginemfrondis sessiles, fuscae, cum
margine pallido.
m These roads occupied about three years in making, and were finished in 1817.
Every man was obliged to contribute a dollar, or two days’ labour. The work was
frequently carried on by means of scaffoldings from the rocks and precipices.
G
42
EXCURSIONS IN MADEIRA
nine o’clock in the morning, was 5 1°, and De Saussure’s hygrometer
marked 89°. The only birds I saw, were the falco cesalon, (perhaps
a variety, from the difference between some parts of its plumage,
and Cuvier’s description of the species",) an ant- thrush0, (my other a,
Illig.,) the red-legged partridge, and a blackbird, only differing
from the European species in the colour of the beak, which was
dark brown, and merely edged with yellow. The woodcock
( scolopax rusticola, L.) is found in the mountains, and never quits
the island. My mule was sadly worried by the musca da serra,
which did not appear to me to differ from the hippobosca equina : the
guide insisted that it only fixed itself on the animal for warmth, and
did not suck the blood, begging me to look at its talons, which bore
two nails, much indented, but the proboscis and its sheaths were
very evident15. The Pico Ruivo faces the beginning of the descent
into the Coural ; the beetling rocks and broken peaks, over which
the clouds are sailing, seem to threaten to overwhelm us at every
step, and we involuntarily withdraw our eyes from these impending
ruins, to fix them with a shudder on the more startling depths
immediately beneath us, and sometimes on both sides of the arti¬
ficial wall, along which we frequently descend. There were
several picturesque streams and falls of water, but it wanted the
torrents, which follow the heavy rains, to complete the sublimity of
the scene. The road sometimes curves round like a bastion, and
“ The upper part of the bird was of a reddish brown, with dark brown horizontal
stripes; the under, whitish with longitudinal blackish brown spots, diminishing in
number upon the thighs, the lower part of the belly was quite white, the envergure
measured two feet three inches, and from the end of the beak to the end of the tail
was one foot two inches.
° The head, back, wings, and tail, were of an olive brown, the belly whitish ; the
throat, breast, and space between the eye and the beak, orange : it measured 5h inches
from the end of the beak to the end of the tail ; the tarsus was 1 j in. long, and the
tail 2 inches.
p The antennae were short, bearing tubercles with a hair.
AND PORTO SANTO.
1-3
a single and sudden turn transports us from brilliant sunshine to
a thick mist, from the deep shade of a laurel grove to the broad
light of an abrupt break, with a glimpse of the sea. Vast insulated
rocks raise their heads in broken turrets and spires, and look like
the ruined fortresses of some gigantic race, entombed beneath the
huge blocks of basalt, which have been sundered from the mass
above, and rolled down towards the valley. These immense frag¬
ments, eternal monuments of “ the wars betw een the torrents and
the mountains,” seem, sometimes, to be so nicely balanced on a
single point, as only to aw-ait the violence of the storm to precipi¬
tate them into the bed of the stream. The mouldering trunks of
large blasted trees contribute to the solemn grandeur of the scene,
which is varied in colour by the warm red of the tufa, the cold
grey of the basalt, the very different shades of the evergreens,
ferns, broom, and moss ; and the frost-like, silvery appearance as¬
sumed by the decayed heath trees. The moss, hypnum intricatum,
was the only one I could see or hear of ; it abounds even at the
greatest heights, forming a rich, velvet-like verdure, when combined
with the smaller gramineee, and the young shoots of the erica,
which are so beautiful when putting out their first leaves ; this
hypnum also grows on the thallus of the til lichen. Having reached
the bed of the torrent, we look around, and feel as if we were in an
amphitheatre of unscalable rocks, without a single outlet. The
small valley, through which a few miserable huts are thinly scat¬
tered, presents flourishing vineyards, and smiling gardens of
cabbages, pumpkins, and sweet potatoes, (convolvulus batata). This
is the highest point at which the vine is cultivated in Madeira,
for making wine, and its success is entirely owing to the nuns
of Santa Clara (to whom this Couralq belongs) having given up
'' I have taken some pains to ascertain the meaning of the word Coural, which we
do not find in the Portuguese dictionaries, and am assured, on native authority, that,
coupled with das Freiras, it means the “ Nuns fold,” i. e., the place of their retreat,
u
EXCURSIONS IN MADEIRA
their share of the profits, to their tenants, for the first seven years.
It is 2080 feet above the sea ; the temperature of the air was 63°,
at eleven o’clock in the morning, and lie Saussure’s hygrometer
stood at 74°, or 15° lower than on the heights above.
The bed of the torrent is crossed by stepping from one rolled
mass of basalt to another, and that with some uncertainty, es¬
pecially when they are slippery from the rains ; then turning to
the left, you continue for some time along a tolerably level path,
and pass a romantic little bridge with a waterfall, on the right.
It seemed as if every turn would terminate my progress, by bring¬
ing me directly in contact with the towering walls of basalt and
tufa, which faced me in all directions. We then commenced the
steep ascent of the Lombo Grande, first, through thick and close
bushes of broom, which, at a higher point, became mingled with
ferns : the distant mountains loomed through the mist, like the
first appearance of land at sea. My guide, who, it turned out, had
never been to the Pico Ruivo, missed, or rather was ignorant of the
obscure turning which is to be taken on the right hand, about two-
thirds up the Lombo Grande, and we continued straight forward
in the same path until we met a countryman, who told us we were
wrong, and conducted us down to the turning off. We had not
proceeded 300 yards, before a small avalanche necessitated my
leaving the mule behind, and indeed made our own passage rather
nervous. We proceeded at a pretty brisk pace, considering the
steepness and ruggedness of the path, for about two hours, when
my guide announced that he had again missed the path, that the
peak was two hours distance to the south east, and that we should
be benighted in our attempt to reach it. The clouds above us
were frequently scattered in the finest particles, which seemed in
their turn to dissolve into aether.
in case of the invasion of the island by foreigners, or any other attack or outrage
upon their convent or persons.
AND PORTO SANTO.
45
We hastened our descent, and I scarcely dared to stop a moment
to contemplate the new beauties which the setting sun shed over
the scenery, my guide was so impatient and apprehensive ; as it
was, we did not reach the margin of the torrent until dark. My
first care was for my barometer, which being Fortin’s, was rather
unwieldy in the hand, and, afraid to venture to step from stone to
stone with it (for the guide had enough to do to get the mule
through), I jumped into the water, and immediately repented
having done so, for though the depth was never above my waist,
its force was so great, that without the assistance of the guide and
the large stones, I must have been swept down by it. The
barometer, however, was uninjured, and we began to grope our
way in the dark, in the hope of discovering some light in one of'
the cabins to make to ; sometimes rolling over one another, some¬
times falling off a bank, and sometimes dragged down a partition
wall by the mule slipping off it. In short, there was but one thing
evident, that we had missed the path altogether, and my guide
began to cry and roar, accusing me of bringing him there to die,
while I sat down on a bank, determined to pass the night there
rather than break my shins any more, and holloa’d lustily. Our
united efforts, although in very different strains, (my guide perse-
severing in the bellowing part of the duet,) brought a peasant with
a torch to our assistance, who conducted us in about half an hour
to a filthy cabin of a single apartment, full of children, smoke, and
vermin. His wife, however, dried part of my clothes by the damp
twigs which were cracking on the earthy floor, with great care and
good nature, and placing a log of wood beside me, covered it with
excellent grapes, and a large cup of the pure juice of the tinta.
The husband was easily persuaded to provide torches, (made from
what appeared to me to be a festuca,) and guide our ascent out of
the Coural ; for I felt very anxious to judge of the effect of torch¬
light on these sombre scenes, and I was fully recompensed,
46
EXCURSIONS IN MADEIRA
although shivering with cold the whole way. One slip would have
been a slip into eternity ; but the thought of danger was diverted
by the clouds which were still rising out of the valley, and which,
frequently concealing the precipices the torch would otherwise
have disclosed, seemed to assure our steps by the impression, that
we were riding on the margin of some vast rocky lake. My guide
tied a handkerchief over his head, leaving it to float out behind
from beneath his sharp pointed cap, tucked up his trowsers, pulled
up his swarthy boots, which looked like a skin shrivelled and
discoloured with age and dirt, let his shirt hang loose over his
waistband, and waving the torch every touch and turn to keep it
in, preceded me, looking like the most haggard of wizards : as I
shrunk from the breeze and looked around me, I could not but
recall the words of Ossian, “ Ghosts ride on clouds, and fly upon the
winds, and meet together in some secret cave to talk of mortal
man.” I arrived at Mr. Veitch’s quinta in about three hours.
My next attempt was more successful. I slept in the Coural the
night before, and starting before sunrise, was on the top of the
Pico Ruivo by half past nine in the morning. We passed through
thickets of the clethra arborea r, vaccinium cappadocium, and laurels,
before we reached the arborescent heaths, which contribute with
the thick grass to give the peak its unusual verdure : the mentha
and melissa shed their fragrance even on the summit, and the
purple digitalis presented itself very nearly as high. There was
not a cloud to be seen when we first arrived, and the broken vol¬
canic peaks, the abrupt breaks, and deep abysses, which met the
eye in every direction, almost led me to feel like one who, sur¬
viving some great convulsion of nature, had crawled to the highest
eminence to contemplate the ruins of a divided continent. The
r This clethra does not seem to me to have been well described, or else it is a
different species : it has no bractese, the ovary is covered with hairs, and the stigma is
forked at the top.
AND PORTO SANTO.
47
scene was soon changed ; the clouds advanced at first like vast
floating glaciers, but soon formed an entire sea, from which the
points of the peaks emerged like desert rocks and breakers. I did
not quit the summit until noon, when the thermometer stood at
49 in the shade, and at 80 in the sun ; De Saussure’s hygrometer
remained at 57, for there was not a cloud above us ; and the elec¬
trometer, armed with its conductor and elevated, was not affected
in the smallest degree. I made the height of the peak 6164 feet ',
(or about 650 feet lower than the range of hills considered as the
base of the Peak of Teneriffe,) and I think it was impossible for
the day to be more favourable'.
s Barom. 619.65, T. 9.45, T.d. 9.45 c. 49 F: in the turret of Mr. Veitch’s house in
Funchal, 154 feet above the level of the sea, (allowing seven feet for the rise of the
tide at the syzygies, when the height of the turret was determined,) 770.70, T. 20.5,
T.d. 20.5 c. 69 F : T — T' = I6ra 2; -joSu x 2 (t + t') = 103m 2; correction for
latitude, 8m.
1 For the Peak of Teneriffe to be visible from Ruivo, it would require the latter to
be upwards of 18,000 feet high. “ M. Cordier mesura le Pic de Teneriffe, le 10 Avril,
1803, en employant un excellent barom^tre qu’il avoit fait bouillir la veille, et par un
temps tr&s-beau et tres-constant, qui se prolongea pendant un mois. Les instrumens
etoient places au vent du Pic, et la hauteur barometrique fut ramenee a la temperature
de fair ambiant . M. Cordier a tenu compte des petits changemens de
niveau dans la cuvette, et ce physicien, tres exerce aux mesures barometriques, a pris
toutes les precautions necessaires pour obtenir un resultat exact.” M. Cordier’s
observation, calculated by La Place’s formula, gives 1920 toises, or 12,162 English feet.
Voyage de Humboldt, 1. 1, c. 3. In a MS. communication of Dr. Savignon’s, (a
Spanish physician resident at Lagunas,) the summit of the Peak is stated to be 12,208
English feet, with the following observation : “ Orotava stands 1042 feet above the
level of the sea ; the range of hills, which may be considered as the base on which the
Peak of Teneriffe rests, 6810 feet, and the base of the sugar loaf, 11,670 feet: these
heights are the result of a series of observations made by several intelligent gentlemen
of Teneriffe, and agree extremely well with those made by Baron Von Buch and
Professor Smith in 1815.” I need not add, that Baron Von Buch (whose work I have
not yet seen), as a scientific traveller, is allowedly second only to Baron de Humboldt.
I merely mention these two barometrical observations, differing only forty-six feet in
a height of 12,000, because they seem to have escaped the attention they merit. See
Journal of Science for March, 1823, p. 79.
4S
EXCURSIONS IN MADEIRA
I had taken the angle of elevation of the Peak of Ruivo with a
reflecting circle, from the" point generally visited by strangers for
the best view of the Coural, and adjoining the Pico das Eordas,
knowing that I could get its horizontal distance from Ruivo very
accurately from Lieutenant Colonel Paulo Dias d ’Almeida’s survey,
just completed, after six years’ labour, drawn originally on a scale of
twenty-eight inches to a Portuguese league, and containing every
quinta on the island. My own attempts to get a sufficient base by
angles from a smaller one, measured with the aid of an artificial
horizon of crystal, and a proof telescope, (lunette d’epreuvej failed
from unfavourable weather.
o / //
6 6 20 Apparent angle of Ruivo.
26 Refraction11.
- — - - Feet.
6 5 54 Which, with 24,805 feet for the horizontal distance, gives 2578
Height of apparent, above true level, for 24,805 feet ... 15
Height of point of view above the level of the sea . . . 3710
Height of Ruivo 6303
being 139 feet more" than that given by the barometer, which was
Fortin's, and had been compared with that of the observatory for
several weeks. M. Von Buch, and Professor Smith, found the
Torrinhas (notoriously lower than the Pico Ruivo) 5857 feet
above the sea*. These circumstances considered, I cannot help
u To estimate the terrestrial refraction, (not having Lindenau’s tables of negative
coefficients,) I followed the method recommended, I think by Pictet, at the end of
-ie first volume of De Saussure’s Travels; calculating (by Dr. Young’s tables) the
astronomical refraction at each station, for the angle of elevation under which Ruivo
is seen from the lower, (knowing the height of the barometer for each,) and taking
the half on the supposition, which may be made without any sensible error, that the
curve between the two stations is circular. This gave me within a fraction of what
Dr. Maskelyne allows, viz., tV of the intermediate arc : but, if the consideration of
the refraction were neglected altogether, it would not make a difference of six feet.
w M. Pictet’s measurement of Mont Blanc, from the glacier of Buet, in a similar
manner, exceeded De Luc’s direct barometrical measurement by 210 feet.
II Narrative of an Expedition to explore the River Zaire. Introduction, p. lxviii.
Ruivo was not accessible at the time of their visit to Madeira.
AND PORTO SANTO.
49
feeling some confidence in the result of my own observations,
although I observe by Captain Sabine’s recent article in the J ournal
of Science, that he’made it only 5438 feet above the level of the
sea. Baron de Humboldt found the decrease of caloric at Tene-
riffe, to be ninety-four toises for every degree of the centigrade
thermometer ; De Saussure, at Etna, ninety-one toises ; my obser¬
vation gives eighty-nine toises, or five less than De Humboldt's ;
but Captain Sabine’s gives only sixty toises for a centigrade degree,
or thirty-four less than De Humboldt y : this would seem to be a
further evidence in favour of the greater height of Euivo.
My next route was northwards to St. Vicente, which is about
twenty-five miles from Funchal, passing first along the brink of
the Coural or ravine, into which I had already descended, and then
on the very margin of a second, scarcely less bold, but less awful,
and much more luxuriant in vegetation. Woods of laurels line
the declivities along which the road is formed, and wooden bridge,
are thrown over the frequent torrents, near one of which the
basalt rock assumes the form and detail of a ruined castle so
happily, that it seems to defy the pencil to draw any thing else.
Beyond this, the distant sheets of broom look like sloping lawns,
occasionally diversified by the mellow brown of decaying ferns.
Here I first saw the beautiful fern asplenium palmatum. The
Alices form by far the most interesting family in Madeira, verifying
Baron de Humboldt’s remark, that their maximum may be found
in the mountainous parts of small islands : it will be seen that
several are new2, and all were highly luxuriant, yet I was disap-
y Temp, at Ruivo, 36° F., at Funchal, eight feet above the sea, 61.5. Journal of
Science, xxix. p. 82.
2 For a more particular list of the ferns I must refer my readers to the Appendix,
No. 1. The P. vulgare therein mentioned, I think must be a variety of that species
found at Tener-iffe by M. Leschenault. The aspidium palmatum I believe to be rare ;
H
50
EXCURSIONS IN MADEIRA
pointed at not finding the dicksonia mentioned by the above
author, or a single arborescent fern. The basalt and tufa dip to
the north, beyond the ridge separating the two Courals, and con¬
tinue to do so all the way to St. Vicente. The compact basalt is
still uppermost, and its depth is considerably greater than at the
water-side ; the lower masses are occasionally in an advanced stage
of decomposition, apparently from the effect of the springs issuing
out of them. From the deflections of the streams of basalt and
deposits of tufa, (principally on account of the hills and valleys
of the primitive island, which have also caused the great variations
in the depth of the basalt, and of the existence of which we shall
find positive evidence at St. Vicente,) the dip, though generally
rapid, frequently varies, and consequently we form the best idea
of its great inclination towards the sea, by recollecting, that the
same beds of columnar basalt and red tufa, which are not 100 feet
above the water, close to the beach, are found at a height of 4500
feet in the interior, and that at an horizontal distance of only 7-|
geographical miles, or 46,843 feet from the sea, which gives an angle
of 6° 17'. As you approach St. Vicente, you discover dikes de¬
scending through the tufa, and the basalt which composes them
is full of crystals of basaltic hornblende, and occasionally of py¬
roxene : I must own, however, that I could not have distinguished
the latter, either by its lustre or conchoidal fracture. The descent
each frond rises on a slender black stem, and sometimes to a considerable height-
The A. hirsutum resembles a fern found by Olivier in Candia, and not yet named. I
have, therefore, given mine the above appellation, from the thick short hair at the
back of the fronds. The two following species I believe to be quite new.
Genus Lomaria ? — Frondibus linearibus, semicylindricis, uni-nervatis. Fructifi-
catione totum frondis cliscum tegente. Tegumine intra dehiscente. Sp. L. semicy-
lindrica. B. Genus Aspidium. — Fronde simplice, foliis obliquis oblongis. Fructif. in
lineis brevibus, marginem foliarum tectente, folliculis anello elastico circumdatis. Sp.
Asp. lobatum, B. I have recognised this fern in Vaillant’s herbier, but it was not named.
AND PORTO SANTO.
51
to St. Vicente, though scarcely two miles, is more fatiguing than
the whole journey, being very steep, and covered with blocks of
basalt. The high range on the left is full of basaltic dikes, pro¬
jecting like buttresses from the tufa, and mantled with evergreens ;
they have evidently descended from the Poul, and are frequently
in such an advanced stage of decomposition, as to be sectile,
acquiring an orange yellow colour. The first village is miserable,
and is about 3| miles from the sea. I turned to the eastward,
towards the towering basaltic rocks which appeared there, and
after walking about two miles through vineyards, and gardens of
orange trees, and crossing two torrents, the one by a tottering
bridge, I ascended for about half an hour by a rugged winding path,
and found a similar limestone to that which I have before described,
beneath the basalt at Lisbon. Generally speaking, however, it is
of a whiter colour, more crystalline in its Texture, contains very
little imbedded siliceous matter, and scarcely any compact masses ;
yet from analogy, and from the great depth of the bed, (being
nearly 700 feet from its junction with the superincumbent basalt,
to my last glimpse of it in the bed of the torrent, nearly level with
the sea,) without a single alternation, I have no doubt of its
being transition, rather than primitive limestone ; its more crys¬
talline texture is probably owing to its vicinity to the basalt. The
drift fine of the junction is horizontal, and the limestone has
evidently been deposited regularly and tranquilly, without the
smallest trace of disturbance or confusion. Continuing about a
furlong to the northward, and descending a water-course, (about a
mile in a direct line from the beach,) I found dikes of decom¬
posing basalt intersecting the limestone, which, from their form
and direction, I should say had evidently descended from above,
and, instead of filling up from below, had flowed into the gaps
created in the limestone by the convulsions which rent the ori-
52
EXCURSIONS IN MADEIRA
ginal structure of Madeira, and preceded its new form. The rock
directly in contact with, and above the limestone, looked in some
parts like a conglomerate of small nodules of basalt, imbedded in
an indurated tufa, with stripes and patches of lime ; but it lost
this character two or three feet above the limestone, and became a
simple rock, of a chocolate brown, and greyish red, with lines of
buff, losing all effervescence, and somewhat of a slaty structure.
Its entire depth, however, was only 4| feet, and the heights above,
which rise to nearly 1000 feet more, were composed (as far as I
could judge without ascending them, which was impossible) of
beds of basalt and tufa, intersected by basaltic dikes. The altered
basalt of the dikes intersecting the limestone, would perhaps be
called wakke in the cabinet, having acquired a brownish hue, and
its specific gravity being reduced to 2.7 or 0.2 less than that of the
ordinary compact basalt of Madeira. The unknown cause which
threw up the vast masses of basalt and tufa, which now envelope
the island so deeply, that it seems to be exclusively composed of
them, must have resided far beneath this bed of transition lime¬
stone.
I reached the middle of St. Vicente, or rather Sta. Magdalena,
which seemed to be a separate village, by four o’clock ; and having
rested a little, I determined to follow the banks of the torrent to
the sea, which did not appear to be more than two miles distant.
The vines, trained around the lofty chestnut trees, crossed the
road from one to the other, interlacing like a natural trellis work,
to shelter the road from the sun, and reminding me of the creep¬
ing plants which connect whole forests in Africa. The two
villages nearest the sea, seemed neater and better built ; that in
the hollow was sheltered from the north wind by a natural wall
of tufa, and contained a good church, with a very snug looking
house for the vicar adjoining, which seemed to promise a clean
AND PORTO SANTO.
3:3
bed, old wine, and fresh marmalade to any welcome guest. An
insulated hollow rock stood on the beach at the mouth of the
torrent, and with the simple addition of a door and a few steps,
had been converted into a chapel ;
the vast cliff of tufa on the east, seemed to threaten to over¬
whelm it.
I met the Padre, a very respectable looking man, taking his
evening walk, with, as I was afterwards told, the principal family
of the neighbourhood. The old lady seemed to be asserting her
right to an interference in some of the affairs of the parish ; two
awkward-looking young men followed at a short distance, arm in
arm, and left a handsome-looking girl to walk behind them, entirely
alone ; she returned the salutations of the peasantry with the
prettiest grace imaginable. Perhaps this poor girl was destined
to be thrown away on one of the insensible beings who were
strutting before her, for choice has nothing to do with Portuguese
marriages, until widowhood leaves a female her own mistress. I
was favoured with a bow by each of the party, although my white
jacket and trowsers, so nearly approaching the garb of the pea¬
santry, did not entitle me to it, in the first instance ; I would have
gone without my supper, hungry as I was, to have been allowed
to pass the evening with them. I took up my quarters for the
night in the remaining part of the habitation of the ancestors of
a lady, whose weekly quadrille parties, and brilliant annual ball, I
51
EXCURSIONS IN MADEIRA
had so much enjoyed at Funchal. A chapel close to the house,
still gave Donna Anna a control over the fetes of the village, and
I could not help wishing she would occasionally visit this neg¬
lected spot, although I could not exactly say what pleasure a lively
elegant woman, the soul of Portuguese society, should find there :
indeed, it seemed cruel to wish her to bury herself for a moment
at St. Vicente, merely from my formal antiquarian sort of respect
for her ancestry, when I knew from experience that every party
would be incomplete, if not dull, without her. When the only
living representative of a family is a charming woman, to whose
society and accomplishments we have been indebted for many
pleasant hours, it is impossible to visit the remote and neglected
residence of her forefathers, without conjuring up a thousand
delightful forms, as we sit alone in the gloomy sala, watching
the setting sun through the cobwebs of a shattered window. The
ruins of the family chapel spirit up a vision of the old Padre
receiving the artless confessions of a train of blushing beauties,
whom we have lived just too late to know. The father too, no
doubt; was hospitable ; the mother, kindness itself ; we feel deter¬
mined to admit no unpleasant shade into the picture : the priest
was more cheerful, the wine was better, for the grapes were less
neglected ; the cedar roofs re-echoed with guitars, and there was
not a dance once a year, as there may be now, but every evening.
Darkness rouses us for a moment from our reveries, as if to suggest
that they might lead to still more pleasing dreams. The feitor or
steward, however, thought a lively interlude would be as well
between the waking vision, and the dream of departed forms, and
served up a capital soup, a fat fowl, a plate of oranges, and a bottle
of wine, before he strewed the bed on the floor, placing a wax
candle by the side of it, which I suspect he borrowed from the
church, and which the rats devoured before five o’clock in the
morning.
AND PORTO SANTO.
55
My last excursion in this part of the interior of Madeira was to
the Poul de Serra. We slept on a bed of dry fern, and in view of
a blazing fire, in one of the huts raised for the shelter of the in¬
spector of the roads, and started about an hour before day-light
for the Poul, which wre reached soon after seven o’clock. It is a
vast plateau, or table land, about nine miles long, and three broad,
sometimes covered with a sandy soil, sometimes with rich pasturage,
and less frequently, with mouldering tufa and basaltic rock.
There were several patches of ice in the earliest part of the morn¬
ing, and the thermometer was as low as 42° at eight o’clock. It is
5159 feet above the level of the sea, and might be made very pro¬
ductive, had the Portuguese any spirit or knowledge as agricul¬
turists. At present it is the Hartz of Madeira, and the peasants
who live at some distance, when obliged to traverse it in their
journies to the westward, do so with a hurried step and fearful
eye, looking for some malignant goblin, or offended spirit, in every
cloud that settles around it : the most alarming stories, however,
are generally traced to the four or five families who live beneath
its brow, and get a better livelihood than ordinary, by cutting fire¬
wood, and feeding cattle on it. The vaccinium cappadocium
abounds in thickets of small trees, and the peasants make vinegar
of its berries. The sonchus radiatus grows to a large size, and
serves as food for innumerable rabbits, all of which are said to
have descended from a single doe, which Uttered on board Pres-
trello’s ship, who was the first governor of Porto Santo3. I saw
nothing to interest the geologist, unless it wras several of those
faint, and more or less circular depressions, which some have
imagined in Europe to be traces of craters, without reflecting, that
the original base on which these volcanic plateaux rest, were pro¬
bably plains, and that, if the basalt first flowed from an opening
made in the middle of a plain, it would form a plateau without
3 Collecgao de noticias, p. 8.
56
EXCURSIONS IN MADEIRA
leaving any vestige of a crater. Here I had the gratification of
seeing the Manta for the first time, a new species of eagle, connect¬
ing the divisions halitetus and pandion of Savigny , and which ought,
perhaps, to form an intermediate one, under the name of limn atm :
first, because the same natural character which has separated the
haliatus from the pandion, separates the limnatus from both, for
its nails instead of being grooved underneath as in the former, or
round, as in the latter, are perfectly flat ; and secondly, from an
equal difference in its habits, for although evidently an aquatic
eagle from its half-feathered tarsi, it neither frequents the sea like
the haliatm, nor rivers, like the pandion, but haunts the pools and
other stagnant waters of the mountains, and feeds on water-insects
and worms, amphibious reptiles, grylli, and small birds, but not on
fishb. Returning leisurely, and in broad day, I could not but be
struck with the numerous basaltic dikes which advanced from the
heights, and projected into the valleys and ravines, like buttresses
or bare walls. It was every where evident that these dikes had
intersected beds of tufa, which had been decomposed and washed
away by the rains and torrents, and the frequent occurrence ap¬
peared to me to have contributed considerably to the formation of
the small valleys and ravines, and to their fertility, being thus
naturally covered with what is considered the best soil in the
island. It is also evident, that these vast, irregular deposits of tufa
cannot have resulted from decomposition, but must have been
poured out as an irruption, before the basalt. The prisms met
with in different parts of the road from the Coural to the Pouf are
of various sizes, of a more compact basalt, and, generally speaking,
b Back and head, brown ; tail, light brown, with transverse bands of the darker brown
of the back ; throat and belly yellowish, with transverse waves of dark brown ; inside
of the wings whitish, with similar waves ; tail square, with ten long pen-feathers ;
tarsi, yellow ; length, one foot nine inches ; envergure four feet one inch. The gastric
glands descend into the stomach in four longitudinal bands.
AND PORTO SANTO.
57
much more symmetrical than those at, and near, the water-side,
proving that Dolomieu’s opinion, that it is the effect of their
sudden cooling in water, is unfounded. It is every where evident,
that this structure is accidental, and arises from divisions subse¬
quent to the formation of the mass. On my way back I found
the stum falcarium, growing to the size of a large shrub. I re¬
turned to Funchal, by the Pico da Cruz, which affords a fine view
of the peaks of the interior, and of the Jardin de Serra, as may be
conceived from the accompanying sketch, Plate 4, B. ; it is 3237
feet above the sea. I also passed over the peak of Giram, (the
highest land seen to the westward of Funchal, on entering the
bay,) which I found to be 2185 feet above the sea.
Going close along shore in a boat, to the westward, and passing
the natural section, which I have already described, and which is
terminated by a ravine, we lose sight of the tufa, which has either
slipped beneath the sea, or has not been deposited in this direction.
The basalt, which appears to be a continuation of that reposing on
the tufa on the eastward side of the ravine, forms the cliffs ex¬
clusively, and is mixed with a confused deposit, like indurated
mud, which would seem to have flowed out of the crater at the
same time, rather than to have resulted from decomposition. It is
in this basalt that the plomb natif volcanique0 of M. Haiiy was found.
We next pass a basalt which is particularly scoriaceous and cellular
where it has reached the sea, and continuing, we observe that it
afterwards presents, in its more elevated parts, immense patches
and bands of earth, resembling tufa, and seemingly resulting from
c “ Amorphe, en masses contourn6es there is a specimen in the cabinet of the
Jardin des Plantes, but not a vestige of it is to be met with in these rocks at present ;
and Don Joze de Vasconcellos, who was with M. Ratske when he found it, tells me.
that the quantity was exceedingly small, and that he never could discover any other
trace of it since, although he has frequently searched. Lead, galena, has since been
found in the basalt near Durham.
I
58
EXCURSIONS IN MADEIRA
decomposition. This conducts us to detached and insulated rocks
of columnar basalt, washed on all sides by the sea, and remarkably
scoriaceous on the upper part. We then arrive at projecting
ridges of basalt, which have preserved the same inclined plane in
which they flowed into the sea ; columnar basalt then prevails for
some distance at the edge of the sea, and rises to about sixty feet
above it. The red tufa afterwards becomes evident, beneath the
upper basalt, which is out of the reach of the sea, but columnar ;
those are the remains, however, of ridges of the lower, or cellular
basalt running out into the sea. These are followed by a fine
beach and bay, free from cliffs and elevations, like that in which
F unchal is built, and owing entirely to no streams of basalt having
reached, or flowed towards the sea in that direction. This beach
is terminated on the western side by strata of tufa, dipping rapidly
to the south ; and between these and the Ribeiro dos Soccurridos,
the lower and upper basalt are disclosed with the yellow tufa
between them. Before we reach Camera de Lobos, we discover a
third alternation of basalt, divided from the second, which we have
hitherto called the lower, by a deposit of red tufa. Camera de
Lobos lies behind detached rocks and ridges of scoriaceous basalt,
and close to it we first remark the basaltic dikes descending
through strata of yellow tufa, scoria?, and red tufa, all of which are
above the basalt. The stupendous cliff which follows, Plate 4, A.
presents a grand slip to the eastward, and the whole depth, a per¬
pendicular sheet of 1600 feet, is composed of strata of basalt, alter¬
nating with red tufa and scoriae, and intersected by numerous
basaltic dikes (some of which have been disunited by subsequent
slips), running from the top to the bottom. Looking at these
frequent alternations, can any one hesitate to give up the hypothe¬
sis, that the scoria? have been produced by a series of volcanic
eruptions, which have forced through, covered and scorified the
upper surface of the basalt, after the waters had deposited it ? It is
AND PORTO SANTO.
59
scarcely possible to conceive such a regular succession of aqueous
deposits and volcanic injections ; to admit (which we must also do)
that the sea has been 1600 feet above its present level in this part
is a minor difficulty, compared to the former, especially since the
ingenious hypothesis, founded on the unequal expansibility of land
and water under an alteration of temperature. But we must re¬
collect, that no change in the level of the ocean, nor even a forcible
elevation of the island from beneath the water, is required in
admitting that the basalt is of igneous origin, (as its streams and
nature indicate) and has flowed from a crater opened through the
transition limestone found at S. Vicente.
A fall of water, of one shallow, and two deep stages, descends
the whole depth of the western end of the cliff, which adjoins the
Fazenda dos Padres, perhaps the finest malmsey plantation in the
island, and created entirely by an avalanche of tufa, which, falling
from a height of upwards of 1200 feet, has lodged and spread at
the bottom of the cliff.
The house and vineyards are only accessible by water, to those
who shudder, as most persons do, at the daring route of the la¬
bourers, who ascend and descend the cliff by a succession of
simple stakes driven into, and projecting from it. These ava¬
lanches, which are not unfrequent, (and which have occurred from
lesser heights without much injuring the property) with one or
two sliding plantations, occasion curious suits in the courts of
Madeira ; the one party insisting that he must follow his grounds
and habitations, the other, whose less valuable grounds have been
covered or enlarged by the accident, pleading, I presume, “ cujus
est solum, ejus est ccelum.”
Ascending the rocks between the Fort and Praya bay, we find,
close on their brink, about 80 feet above the sea, and but a few
yards inland, an elliptical, funnel-shaped depression of 520 feet in
circumference, and about 35 feet deep. The greater axis bears
I 2
60
EXCURSIONS IN MADEIRA
S. 7° W., and, within, (a little northwards of the centre, and about
35 feet below the brink) is an aperture about 25 feet long, and 15
broad, through which you see the sea ; the walls of the caverns
resounding with the rush of the waves entering below. The
depth of this vast marine well, a term which I merely hazard for
the moment, as conveying a better idea of its position and ap¬
pearance than any further description could, is about forty-five
leet. This rent, apparently too considerable to be attributed to
the mere elastic force of confined vapours, presents every evidence
of having been formed by a minor volcanic heave, which threw up
vast blocks of the rock it rent from beneath the ocean, to form a
passage, but did not eject any lava or contents of its own. For
both the basalt rock in which it is formed, and that of the vast
masses which are scattered at the mouth of the aperture, are
highly scoriaceous, and present the strongest traces of fusion on
the surface. The elliptical wall which rises thirty-five feet above
this fearful aperture, and forms the greatest circumference of the
funnel, is of tufa, dipping to the south, and which, yielding more
easily, has been undermined, and has fallen in to a greater extent,
from the same heave which rent the stubborn rock beneath it ; the
shock having spread as it proceeded upwards through these looser
and softer strata. The compact basalt, which covers the tufa in
many instances, is wanting in the present, and the nearest coulie
of it inland, or behind this aperture, diverges from it, and may be
traced to the sea without approaching it, so that no superincum¬
bent weight could have contributed to the falling in of the tufa.
There is not the smallest trace of any ejection from the aperture
having streamed over the wall of tufa, indeed there is not the
smallest evidence of any thing having been thrown or forced up,
but masses of the rock which was rent by the heave. Some of the
masses of porous and scoriaceous basalt scattered near this aperture,
are thinly coated with chalcedony. The Loo rock may have
AND PORTO SANTO.
61
been separated from the shore by a similar volcanic effort, (subse¬
quent to that grand burst and ejection which covered the face of
the primitive island) aided by the long-continued abrading action
of the sea. I here found the cheiranthus mutabilis ; I understand
it is constantly purple, (in various shades) when growing by the
sea-shore, and that its variations of colour depend, not on situation
alone, but on soil. I must also describe a plant, which, from
the novelty of its fructification, I cannot refer to any family ;
its leaves first induced me to suppose that it belonged to the
semperviva, but no other character accorded, and I must leave
its decision to a future traveller, who may procure a better speci¬
men, reserving to myself the pleasure of naming it after my friend
the Provost of Etond.
The first excursion I made to the eastward, was to the Brazen
Head or Garajao. Descending the hill to the ravine crowmed by
the F ort, we find basalt reposing on a shallow deposit looking like
a harsh, indurated, ferrugineous mud ; beneath which is the red
tufa, so heavily charged with basaltic nodules as to resemble a con¬
glomerate. As we pass over the bridge, we observe that the
streams of basalt have flowed about S.S.E. from the interior of the
island, and ascending the eastern side of the ravine, wre find the
mud-like deposit mixed with, or between the basalt, which forms
prolonged, inosculated, shallow vaults above it. The red tufa
beneath has evidently been deposited in fine layers, and where it
has partially slipped, or given way from the superincumbent weight
of the basalt afterwards flowing over it, it has led to correspondent
inflections and depressions in the strata of basalt above it. I can-
d Genus. Goodallia. Radix fusiformis. Folia succulenta; juniora a medio in
modum monocotyledonum nascentes. Caulis herbaceus, scapiformis. Capsula pla¬
centa centrale, 4 valvis, in medio transverse patens, et postquam matura cum placenta
et valvis exiliens : plurima semina, minuta, rotunda, atra, in parte inferiore capsula;
persistentia. Sp. 1. Foliis trilobatis. Sp. 2. Foliis linearibus.
62
EXCURSIONS IN MADEIRA
not consider this indurated mud-like matter, which is generally
charged with basaltic pebbles and fragments, as originating in the
decomposition of the basalt itself, but rather to have been created
in the crater by a different proportion of the constituent elements,
and to have flowed from it, intermingled with the streams of basalt.
The yellow tufa, which is here above the basalt, is thickly sprinkled
with small pumice-stones. The cassia accuminata covers the road
side in all directions, mingled with cacti, pclargonia, roses, fig-trees,
and ivy; four or five small dragon-trees add to the variety. Having
ascended about 2000 feet above the sea, we meet with plantations
of the pinus st/lvestris, which are said to have been made, with the
view of binding the loose red soil, which would otherwise be scat¬
tered, and slide away over the cliffs in the rainy season. The deep
red tufa, however, which forms this soil, and which rests on the
yellow, seems to be more aluminous here than on the western side,
and firmer ; perhaps from the number of basaltic dikes which in¬
tersect it, running towards the sea, and generally presenting a
series of close horizontal fractures, as if it had not flowed very
rapidly into the rents of the tufa, but was deposited in layers.
Masses of basalt crown the tops of all the hills, but are in no
instance columnar; and the remnants of streams of basalt connected
with these masses, and descending over the tufa into the sea, are
constantly evident. Descending the ravine from which the path
to the summit of the Brazen Head branches off, the red tufa,
which just above it had been full of large nodules of basalt, appears
to be charged with a kind of pumice grit, and dips S.S.W. in an
angle of 30°; a natural cross section at your back, running east and
west, discloses this tufa in horizontal layers with the basalt above it.
Looking down at the Brazen Head, from the lofty cliff adjoining
it on the west, we observe large masses of columnar, mixed with
angular, irregular pieces of basalt, (sometimes scoriaceous) im¬
bedded in red tufa. The grand slip to the south will be best
AND PORTO SANTO.
63
conceived from the drawing, Plate 6, which gives the different
appearances and colours of the tufa, of the dark scoriaceous matter
between, of the imbricated-looking basalt beneath, and of the
principal dike, which is three feet four inches wide ; the smaller
sketch, Plate 3, D, taken from a higher point, and at a greater
distance, should be referred to at the same time. To the left of
the part represented in the larger drawing, the dikes descend
through red tufa, which reposes on scoriae The descent to the
beach is rather difficult, and I slid the greater part of the way
over a black cinder, the basaltic masses above which are covered
with ivy. Walking close up to the dike, I found that the yellow
tufa was full of small, (occasionally intermixed with large) sharp,
irregular fragments of basalt, while the red generally contains
larger masses, and is more layer-like in its deposit. This slip has
evidently occurred from the giving way of the tufa, beneath the
basalt, covered by the sea. The euphorbia dendroides, the rut a
graveolens, and a new species of gnaphalium, grew close to the
beach, the latter extending itself up the rocks6. In the pores of
the nodules of basalt which had been rounded and thrown upon
the beach by the sea, I found the galeolaria elongata, and the
vermilia bicarinata, both of which have been hitherto referred to
New Holland alone f. The latter was of the most beautiful rose
colour, gradually passing into white ; its double keel, sometimes
indented, and its aperture with two teeth, would not admit of
any doubt ; but the animal, as well as that of the galeolaria, had
perished. Without a minute examination I should have oro-
/
e Genus Gnaphlium, an tomentosum ? Floribus flosculosis luteis, (foeminei herma-
phroditis mixti) corollulis integris, vix manifestis. Calyce persistente, imbricato,
ventricoso, squamis acuminatis, scariosis, luteis. Pappo capillare. Receptaculo
alveolato nudo. Caule suffruticoso racemoso. Foliis alternis, ovatis, oblongis.
Floribus terminalibus corymbosis. Planta tota, valde tomentosa, canascens, odorata.
f Bowdich’s Elements of Conchology, Part II.
64-
EXCURSIONS IN MADEIRA
nounced the nodules containing the galeolaria, to have been
aniygdaloidal, the remains of this tubicola having at first sight all
the appearance of an earth, subsequently deposited in the pores
of the basalt. Very small balani also adhered to these nodules.
I met with two species of trochus on the same shore, and the turbo
edulis, which adheres to the rocks, and is generally eaten by the
natives : two species of helix s lay upon the rocks out of reach of
the sea ; the animals had left the shells, which had probably been
rolled down from the top of the cliff. In a recess upwards of 150
feet from the sea, and nearly as high above its level, I was sur¬
prised to find rows of stalactites of muriate of soda, frequently a
foot long, pendant from the red tufa like so many icicles, and
terminating in nodules of the same salt, as large as the half of a
duck’s egg. Breaking off some of the masses, the salt appeared to
be spread over the interior surface, as if the tufa was impregnated
with it; nor is this improbable, when we recollect, that M. Brieslak1'
has seen muriate of soda efflorescing from volcanic tufas, in situa¬
tions very distant from the sea, and that it abounds in such quan¬
tities in the crater, and in the lava streams of Vesuvius, according
to M. Menard de laGroye’, that the peasants load themselves with
it for their domestic purposes k. The yellow tufa close to the sea,
was merely sprinkled with saline particles, like a fine powder,
evidently deposited by the spray.
Sailing from Funchal along the eastern coast to the Brazen
Head, we first find the basalt (frequently rudely columnar above,
and bellying out like the sails of a ship) above the tufa and scoriae.
e They both belong to the sub-genus helicella ( Gr . aplostomce) of De Ferrussac,
hut I suspect they are new species.
h Introduction d la Geologie, p. 426.
1 D’Aubuisson, Traite de Geognosie, t. 2, p. 595.
k Baron de Humboldt found salt disseminated in a clay formation in the Cordillieres,
nearly 13,000 feet above the sea.‘ Relation Historique, 1. 2, c. 5.
AND PORTO SANTO.
G5
Beyond the fort and village are one or two alternations of the
basalt and red tufa, the former being uppermost ; and this leads
to the lofty cliffs composed of a basalt with horizontal fractures,
which sometimes appears, from decomposition, to be imbedded in
red earth, and is covered by shallow, cork-like layers of tufa. All
these cliffs have no doubt been produced by the combined attacks
of the ocean and atmosphere. The deeply inclined planes, na¬
turally created by volcanic streams flowing from a central and
elevated crater to the sea, were first worn away by its waters at
their base ; shallow vertical depths being formed in the first
instance, the sea continued to undermine, whilst the atmosphere
decomposed, and the crumbling summits of these cliffs being, from
the continued action of the sea below, gradually brought to over¬
hang the base, avalanches ensued, which increased their face or
depth. Close to the Cabo Garajao, the basalt descends consider¬
ably, and the deposit of tufas above it becomes very deep. East
of the Brazen Head, there are several basalt dikes descending
through the tufa, some of which have evidently been formed before
the slips ; and the basalt in some places presents a series of con¬
centric circles, as if it had formed a small whirlpool when in the
fluid state. It seems very evident, that these dikes are in no
instance injections of basalt from beneath, but have been formed
by streams filling up those cracks and gaps in the tufa, created by
the convulsions preceding an eruption, and by the slips resulting
from the partial giving way of former deposits. In descending
from Pico Buivo, I saw two dikes (5000 feet above the sea) uniting
above, like the prongs of a pitch-fork, which it would be difficult
to explain, but as a downward stream. The tufa, in the vicinity
of these dikes, is naturally harder and firmer than that to the west¬
ward. We next pass Santa Cruz, which lies in a fine break,
uninvaded by the streams of the upper basalt, with Pico Camacha,
a little to the west of its bed, Pico Moraynya, (beautifully wooded)
K
66 EXCURSIONS IN MADEIRA
and Pico de Neve, (whose bare summit towers above the others)
immediately behind it. As we sail past the cliffs and rocks which
follow, we shudder at the sight of the peasantry, crawling down to
cultivate a niche scarcely accessible, and on the very brink of
eternity ; whilst the fishermen let themselves down by ropes to
some favourite point, regardless of the rude crosses, which, erected
on the lofty crags, record the sad fate of many who have preceded
them. Approaching Machico, the basalt becomes of a deeper,
duller red, loses all traces of columnar form, is full of horizontal
fissures, and presents vast caverns near the sea, sometimes divided
by rude shafts, and sometimes blocked up by huge fragments,
recalling the cave of Cacus. Of all formations, the basaltic presents
the most sublime scenery, and suggests the grandest natural ca¬
tastrophes to the poet : we cannot wonder at the pleasing gloom of
Ossian, when we recollect, that he sung amongst its vast columnar
caves, and frowning peaks. The bay of Machico seems to have
been formed by a great slip of the eastern cliffs, and is so inviting,
that it is not surprising, that our countryman Machim should have
directed his shattered bark to its shelter, rather than explore
any further.
“ With longing eyes observing to survey
Some smooth ascent, or safe sequestered bay.
Between the parting rocks at length he spied
A falling stream with gentle waters glide,
Where to the seas the shelving shore declined,
And formed a bay, impervious to the wind.”
The fragments of basalt washed down by the river, or torrent, of
Machico, abound in olivine (sometimes presenting the regular
crystallization of chrysolite), pyrites, and lime ; the latter, generally
botryoidal, and lining small cells.
My last excursion was to the Lagoa, or The Crater, as it has been
called by some, about eleven miles to the eastward of F unchal.
AND PORTO SANTO.
67
It is within a mere hillock, of an imperfect, conical form, on a plain
2406 feet above the sea, from which it is only three miles distant
on the south east, it is about ten miles distant from the east, and
thirty from the west end of the island, and has peaks or mountains
in its rear, rising from 2000 to 3600 feet above it. These moun¬
tains being composed of ridges or streams of basalt, of the same
nature as that at the water side, alternating uTith tufa and scoriae,
and intersected by descending dikes, even at a height of 5000
feet, no one can conceive them to have been masses lifted up from
the sea, at the foot of which a crater afterwards opened, as in the
formation of Sabrina. The interior form of the Lagoa is certainly
in its favour, but there is no w all, or even fragment of a wall, nor,
indeed, is there an atom of lava, pumice, or obsidian to be picked up
in its neighbourhood. There is not a single ridge or stream of
basalt to be traced from it, nor is there a single bed of scoriae, both
of which would have remained in evidence, however long the
crater may have ceased to vomit them ; the remoteness of which
period makes the absence of all traces of sulphur still more extra¬
ordinary : in short, the mineralogist would cpiit it totally disap¬
pointed. Its size, which every observation on record would re¬
quire to be the more considerable, from its very low position, is truly
diminutive, the greater axe of the ellipse (bearing E. 30°, S.)
being only about 240 feet, the lesser (bearing S. 38°, W.) only
190 feet, and the depth only fifty-four feet. There was a small
pool of rain wTater in it about a foot deep, and the whole surface
was covered with a deep bed of vegetable earth, which, from the
evidence of that in the neighbourhood, probably reposes on tufa *.
1 The length of Madeira, from Porta de Pargo to Porta St. Lorenzo, is9j P. leagues
(32^ 6, miles), according to the survey of Col. Paulo d’ Almeida, being 6 G. miles
less than the distance between the same points in Johnston's Geo-hydrographic Survey
of Madeira, published by Faden in 1790 : the greatest breadth is from Porta da Cruz
K 2
68
EXCURSIONS IN MADEIRA
As I returned, I could not but remark the beautiful hedges of
rosemary and naturalized pelargonia, even at a height of 2000 feet
above the sea.
Having no more facts to offer on the Geology of Madeira, I will
venture to submit some concluding remarks. The probability, that
Madeira and Porto Santo, from their vicinity to the Canaries,
belong to the same system of formation, leads us to suspect, even
before we have examined them, that they cannot have been
created by a marine volcano m. One thing is clear at first sight.
viz., that the masses of basalt have not pre-existed as rock of a
different nature, and were afterwards heated in situ, and pene¬
trated by vapours : every appearance indicates, that these masses
have been elevated as fluid, and streamed from the mouth of a
crater. It next occurs to us, that had the island of Madeira been
entirely created by a marine volcano, its base, if not its bulk,
would, probably, (arguing from analogy) be composed of pumice
and cinders ; both of which are found in comparatively small
quantities, and alternating with basalt and tufa. The discovery
of the vast bed of transition limestone below the basalt, and con¬
tinuing to a depth of 700 feet, until its approach to the level of
the sea allows us to trace it no further, confirms our conclusion,
and seems to demonstrate, that Madeira pre-existed as a mass
of transition, or probably of primitive and transition rocks, after¬
wards rent by a marine volcano, which covered and elevated
the island by successive streams and ejections of basalt and tufa. n
to Porta S. Jorge, 12 G. miles, according to Almeida, and 12J according to Johnston.
I make the circumference by Johnston’s map, about 96 G. miles.
m Although M. Broussonet’s assertion, that the island of Gomera contains a mass
of granite and mica-slate, remains unconfirmed, yet M. Escolar has since found a
block of primitive sienite in Fortaventura, and Baron Von Bucli has found another
primitive rock in Palma. — Humboldt's Relation Historique, Supplement, p. 640.
n Had the basalt and tufa of Madeira been formed, or deposited, beneath the sur-
AND PORTO SANTO.
09
I have before remarked, that the ridges of basalt diverge
from the more central heights behind Funchal, descend boldly
to the sea like the gigantic buttresses of some vast interior moun¬
tain, and so distinctly indicate the courses of those igneous
streams which enveloped the island, that they would almost seem
to have been arrested and indurated as they flowed, as an evidence
to future ages. The hills and vallies which existed in the pri¬
mitive island, at the time of the basalt first breaking through,
and flowing over it, and the frequent slips of the first deposits
of tufa under the superincumbent weight of basalt, must have
contributed still more, than the long continued action of torrents,
to its present appearance, and to the unequal depths of the strata.
The variation in the sections and aspect of the island, seem to
me, to be explained by the considerations, that there has been
evidently more than one eruption (from the different alternations
and varieties of the basalt, tufa and scoriae) ; and that, in the second,
streams of basalt must in some places have pursued, from the very
mouth of the crater, and in others have been diverted into, a
different course or direction to that of the former streams, which
must occasionally have presented themselves as obstacles or bar¬
riers0. The same reasoning, confirmed by similar evidence,
face of the ocean, and afterwards lifted up, instead of forcing itself through, and flow¬
ing over a pre-existing formation, we should not, I conceive, find such a striking
continuity in the basaltic coulies and ridges ; we should be unable to trace them to
that central point in the interior of the island from which they have evidently pro¬
ceeded; and the different beds of tufa near the sea, instead of presenting such a
regular appearance, and such a continued horizontal drift line, (Plate 3, A.) would be
generally distorted and confused. Some more recent formation (perhaps a fossil
limestone) would probably be found immediately beneath the basalt at St. Vicente,
instead of the regular bed of transition limestone.
° It appears to me, that the only alternative to this more probable and simple con¬
clusion, is, to infer, from finding the tufa intersected by the dikes laying above the
compact basalt in the highest parts of the interior of the island, that wherever the
70
EXCURSIONS IN MADEIRA
is applicable to the shallow, ribanded beds of tufa by the water
side, which are not likely to have been washed down (by the
excessive rains or inundations which generally accompany volcanic
eruptions), and deposited precisely in the same quantity or direc¬
tion, at different eruptions, and under circumstances differing
in some, if in no great degree p. The deep beds of tufa in the
interior seem to have been deposited confusedly, just as they were
vomited from the crater; for I cannot reconcile myself to the
opinion, that such vast masses can have resulted from the pre¬
mature decomposition of the scoriae, which still remain perfect,
and in distinct layers ; although this tufa may perhaps have been
vomited as detached matter, afterwards agglutinated by rains and
torrents.
The next question is, are there any remains of the grand crater,
and where was it situated? To the former part of the question
I would answer, no ; and to the latter, (recalling the directions of
the various streams and ridges of basalt, and their narrowness
and greater depth in that neighbourhood, from which they all
appear to have taken their departure) between the peaks of Ruivo,
former is found to compose the cliffs by the sea side, the latter (and the various strata
we have described beneath it) must have given way, and sunk beneath the bosom of
the ocean.
p That there was a considerable interval between the last, and the preceding eruption,
the streams from both of which must have destroyed all vegetation in their course,
seems evident, from the uppermost beds of tufa being found to contain fragments of
wood in different parts of the interior of the island. Of the wood found in the tufa
(200 feet above the sea) near Cani§al, I merely saw a specimen for a moment, and that
in the hand of another person, but it appeared to me to have passed into woodstone
(holzstein, W.). In another specimen brought from the neighbourhood of the ice
house, (upwards of 4000 feet above the sea,) and which will be found amongst those
sent to the Geological Society, the wood, thickly imbedded in an indurated, compact,
red tufa, is still soft, and comparatively unaltered : it has evidently belonged to full
grown trees, and in its porous nature, and the distance of its fibres, seems to me to
resemble that of the draccena more than any other.
AND PORTO SANTO.
71
Grande, and Canarios. That the plateau of the Poul was also
another point of eruption, I have no doubt, for the same reasons ;
but I have already submitted why there has, probably, never been
anything like a crater there. Some have considered the bay
of Funchal to be the segment of a large crater q, but the rocks
of the bay do not afford more evidence of calcination than those of
the interior ; they are not at all vitreous, or approaching the
nature of obsidian, and instead of rising in lofty masses above the
level of the water, as if they had formed the walls of a crater,
they occur in basaltic strata of inconsiderable depth, alternating
with tufa, and with the most evident indications of having flowed
from the heights in the centre and interior of the island, which
are from 3500 to 6000 feet higher than this pretended crater.
AVhen we recollect how fragile, how easily decomposed and dis¬
persed, all the parts of a crater (constantly attacked by gases
and vapours) are, compared with the streams which issue from
it ; that nearly one quarter of the cone of Vesuvius fell in a
single eruption, and that during a repose of less than a century
and a half, it became covered with trees and plants — we cannot
wonder that all traces of the grand crater of Madeira should have
been effaced in the many ages which have elapsed since its
creation : the very convulsions which have so evidently rent the
Courals may have undermined its tottering remains. The basaltic
rocks of Madeira are probably of the same age as those of
Teneriffe, and, consequently, considerably older than the lavas
produced by existing causes in the latter island ; causes which
from local circumstances have not extended to Madeira. r
q M. Guillin, in the Appendix of Bory St. Vincent’s Voyage. See note to p. 25,
supra.
r Shocks of earthquakes were felt in Madeira in 1813-14, from the N.W. ; and
January 11th, 1816. The latter is said to have lasted from fifteen to twenty minutes,
and to have cracked the beams of the houses, throwing the inhabitants against the
walls ; it was felt at Lisbon and the Azores.
72
EXCURSIONS IN MADEIRA
CHAPTER III.
Visit to Porto Santo. — Story of Machim. — Sharks. — Insects. — Mor-
gados. — History of Baker. — Landing at Porto Santo. — Governor s
house. — Governor and family. — Formation of Porto Santo. — Baxo.
— Productions of Porto Santo.
I AVAILED myself of an excellent opportunity of visiting
Porto Santo ; to have hired a boat expressly would have been out
of the question, although I should not have hesitated a moment
to have done so, under different circumstances. A Genoese who
had established himself as a baker at F unchal, having previously
lived as cook in the Consul’s family, freighted a boat to Porto
Santo with flour, salt-fish, and pickled beef, with which he was
going to open the the first shop that had ever been seen in Porto
Santo; a memorable event, or rather epoch, as he considered it,
in the history of that island. This man having once visited
Morocco in the suite of a Swedish Consul, and speaking Arabic,
professed a kindred feeling for me as an African traveller, and
generously offered me a free passage to Porto Santo. Our first
effort was unfortunate; we quitted Funchal at midnight, and
from the tempestuous weather, were glad to put into Machico the
next evening.
I hastened to visit the church, raised in commemoration of the
AND PORTO SANTO.
73
adventure of the unfortunate Machim; and as one or two Portu¬
guese scribblers have lately thought it worth their while to
contradict this historical fact, by mere affixmiation instead of
reasoning, (to advance their pretensions to patriotism, by pushing
their antipathy to the English to the utmost) it may be as well to
observe, that the name of the town still records that of Machim ;
that the altar-piece of the church (in which the remains ot the
cedar cross are still preserved and shewn) is avowedly raised “ in
memoria Machim”; that the latter part of the adventure is the
subject of a curious old oil painting in the Government-house at
Funchal, and that the story has not only been recorded in the
first instance by the ancient Spanish and Portuguese writers9, but
5 The story is thus related by Alcaforado : In the reign of Edward III, Robert
Machim, an accomplished gentleman of the second degree of nobility, loved, and was
beloved, by the beautiful Anna d’Arfet, the daughter of a noble of the first class.
Machim was incarcerated for his presumption, by virtue of a royal warrant, and on
his release, endured the bitter mortification of learning, that Anna had been forcibly
married to a noble, who carried her to his castle, near Bristol. A friend of Machim’s
had the address to introduce himself into the family, and became the groom of the
broken-hearted Anna, who was thus persuaded and enabled to escape on board a
vessel with her lover, in the view of ending her days with him in France. In their
hurry and alarm they embarked without the pilot, and the season of the year being
the most unfavourable, were soon at the mercy of a dreadful storm. The desired
port was missed during the night, and the vessel driven out to sea. After twelve
days of suffering, they discovered faint traces of land in the horizon, and succeeded
in making the spot still called Machico. The exhausted Anna was conveyed on
shore; and Machim had spent three days in exploring the neighourbood with his
friends, when the vessel, which they had left in charge of the mariners, broke from
her moorings in a storm, and was wrecked on the coast of Morocco, where the crew
were made slaves ; Anna became dumb with sorrow, and expired three days after.
Machim survived her but five days, enjoining his companions to bury him in the
same grave, under the venerable cedar, where they had, but a few days before, erected
a cross in acknowledgment of their happy deliverance. An inscription composed by
Machim was carved on the cross, with the request, that the next Christian who might
chance to visit the spot would erect a church there. Having performed this last sad
duty, the survivors fitted out the boat which they had drawn ashore on their landing,
L
74
EXCURSIONS IN MADEIRA
has been frequently referred to in political arguments by modern
ones1. The only native poet of Madeira has introduced it in his
epic of Zargueida ", and as the reader has probably never heard of
this poem, I will conclude my remarks on its subject, by en¬
deavouring to translate the two first stanzas of the episode.
In far famed England liv’d a noble knight,
A true Adonis in each woman’s sight,
Whom nature seemed with every grace to dow’r,
Which love inspires, or o’er the heart has pow’r ;
Fierce in the field, and gentle in the bow’r.
’Twas Machim’s fate at once to see and love
Proud d'Arfet’s daughter, Anna, born to move
Those tender feelings in each gazer’s breast,
Which thought may picture, though words ne’er expressed ;
Life to the favour’d — death to the unblessed.
Two dead sharks (the spinax acantkias and scymnus licha ) lay
and in the hope of reaching some part of Europe, were also driven on the coast of
Morocco, and rejoined their companions, but in slavery. Zargo, during an expedition
of discovery to the coast of Africa, took a Spanish vessel with redeemed captives,
amongst whom was an experienced pilot of the name of Morales, who entered into
the service of Zargo, and gave him an account of the adventures of Machirn, as com¬
municated to him by the English captives, and of the land-marks and situation of the
newly-discovered island. Galvano relates the same story from the Castilian Chro¬
nicles, with the difference, that Machirn survived and reached Castile, after being-
made a prisoner by the Moors.
‘ “ He porque elle descende de Joao Gonsalves Zargo ? Pois sera possivel que,
vindo este a custa do Estado a tomar posse de liuma Ilha, ja por outros achada, e
deserta .
elles so erao Nossos Senhores para mandarem receber o que ganhou Zargo por vir
descubrir sem custo huma Ilha ja descoberta, e lan^ar lhe fogo .
Tanta dinheirama para o Marques de Castello, Melhor, em remune ragao dos servi§os
de Zargo ! ! ! Oh Meu Deos! e ainda estara por pagar a sua vinda a esta terra, quia
do pelos companheiros do miserando Machirn, que aqui foi sepultado antes daquella
verida?” 0 Patriota Funchalese, No. 166. Vol. III.
u Zargueida, Descobrimento da Ilha da Madeira, por Francisco de Paula Medina e
Vasconcellos. Lisboa, 1806.
-75tM£x£/ Sy CZZitZ&uxjxzZtZ'
S ' 2?a<>dicA ‘dcZ'et ZitA^a
AND PORTO SANTO.
75
on the beach; I looked carefully under the fins for parasitical
crabs, but found none: the squalus zygcena is common, and eaten.
Only five indigenous plants appeared to characterize the vegetation
of the immediate environs; the verbena officinalis, oxalis luteola,
bidens radiata, calendula officinalis, and solanum pubescens; the
leaves of the latter are applied to cuts by the peasantry. To
these may be added the datura metel (introduced and naturalized),
the tropceolum majus and raphanus sativus, which have probably
strayed from the gardens. There being nothing better to engage
my attention, I commenced a hunt after insects, but having no net,
I caught but few; among them, were what appeared to me to
be a new species of locusta and gryllus, fig. 21, if not of agrion and
iulus. Specific descriptions of the 46,000 insects already known,
(to say nothing of the 4000 birds) could not be very conveniently
comprised in the library of an African traveller. But those I
found are all drawn, and may be referred to by the Entomologist.
The bee of Madeira is evidently a different species to that of
Europe, and seems to be the link between it and the Senegal
bee, imperfectly described in a memoir of Latreilles, from a spe¬
cimen brought home by Adanson, but in too bad a state to be
figured*. One of the spiders may be a new species of mygale;
but the most curious I met with, is an arachney, which does not
spin any web, but retires into a small round hole with its prey ;
it apparently fascinates the fly, then jumps upon it, remains suck¬
ing it for some time, and at length carries it away.
* Colour black; head, body, and legs, nearly covered with light yellowish brown
hairs, forming stripes of that colour between each band and division of the body.
J Fig. 24, body brown; head black, with a white speck; eyes set all round the head ;
a few scattered hairs on the head and legs. Also an arachne of a pale bright green ;
fig. 23, the last joint of each claw, pale brown; eyes set in the form of a crescent; an
oblong semicircle of dark brown on the back; and four little spots of the same
colour.
76
EXCURSIONS IN MADEIRA
A number of what I imagined to be decayed gentry, whose
daily routine seemed to be to do nothing all the morning, and to
rest themselves in the evening, were lounging before the principal
church, or along the torrent wall, in rusty black coats and washed-
out nankeens, set off by a large cane. These I was told were
Morgados or Proprietors, to whom industry of any kind would be
a stain, and who can only condescend to superintend their own
properties, that is, to watch how many eggs the hens of their hard¬
working tenants lay, in order that they may exact the rigorous
half of every thing produced, not only by, but upon their estates.
I called upon one of these grandees a little after eight o’clock in the
morning, to inquire about a chalybeate spring which was described
to be in his ground, and such a scene I never before witnessed.
The house seemed as if it would fall about our ears every moment,
many of the stairs were broken in, and there was no door to the
chamber in which I discovered the taper figure of the proprietor,
floating about in a ragged dressing gown, whilst his lady (a huge
deformed woman, her yellow visage begrimed with dirt, her neck
uncovered, and her wiry black hair likening her to a Medusa) was
attempting to draw her unwholesome fingers, instead of a comb
(occasionally using her nails), through the thick, matted, uncut
locks of four squalid, unwashed, and almost naked children, who
slipped away to take another roll on one of the two filthy
mattresses, which still lay on the rat- eaten floor of this family sty.
A pen and ink, and a few papers in the window-seat, gave my
friend the Genoese occasion to whisper, that this Morgado gained
a few pistrines occasionally as a lawyer; be that as it may, he
almost overwhelmed me with his sweeping bows, which I was
compelled to return with a liberal discount, and stiff circum¬
spection, lest I should slip a leg through one of the gaps, which
threatened me with a sort of infernal region below. What a
delight it was to breathe the fresh air again, and to sit down to
AND PORTO SANTO.
77
our breakfast in the well-swept cabin of our boat-master, who
waited on us in a snow-white shirt and trowsers, and directed my
attention, as if by way of antidote, to the clean, pretty little
peasant girls who were offering chestnuts at the door. If the
unfortunate man we had just visited, thought I, were wise, he
might make himself rich and respectable at once, by descending,
or rather raising himself to that class which Providence has made
superior in this island, although man may call it otherwise, and
by cultivating his own vineyard, half the profits of which, less the
tax to the crown, support with some degree of comfort, a labourious
family, perhaps larger than his own, which lingers through a bare ex¬
istence, in filth and wretchedness, on the remainder. But, probably,
this poor man could not, even if he would, take his property into
his own hands. The law which permitted the proprietor to enjoy,
not only half the profits of the labours of the tenant, but half of
every thing that springs up, or is reared about his cabin, warranted
the latter to take advantage of every means of protecting himself
against the non-renewal of a lease, from caprice or any more
interested feeling, which might dispossess him of what his own
exertions had improved, perhaps created. He was enjoined to
build walls to keep up the soil, spread over declivities, and to
defend it from the torrent ; which walls he was to be paid for at
the valuation of any other tenant, sworn by the camera, when
compelled to quit the property. Stone abounded2, and he devoted
the leisure of particular seasons, to multiplying these loose walls
as much as possible, whether useful or not. The quarrels with
the proprietor, and all these accumulated walls, are estimated, not
only far above their value in point of usefulness, but far above
the value of the labour and materials expended. The proprietor,
z To split the compact basalt, they make a strong fire on the mass, and then throw
water on it. These rude walls are valued at from six to ten dollars the brassa (about
7 feet 3| inches); torrent, or river walls at forty.
78
EXCURSIONS IN MADEIRA
unwilling, or more frequently unable, to pay such a sum, allows
the tenant to remain, and never thinks of disturbing him again.
It is generally thought, that f. of the profits of the estate would
be a fair proportion for the tenant to enjoy, but surely a fixed
rent would be best for both parties.
There being no appearance of a change of weather, we returned
the next day in a small boat to F unchal, and two days after, again-
repaired to Machico, to join the cargo, which had been left under
the care of the baker’s brother-in-law, who was to be the acting
partner in the projected commercial establishment at Porto Santo.
We sailed from Machico at four o’clock the next morning, and
were out all that day and the following night. My friend, the
Genoese, diverted the tiresomeness of our tempestuous voyage
with anecdotes of his life; not liking the family trade, that of a
butcher, he quitted Genoa when young, and opened an earthen¬
ware shop at Marseilles, where he made money enough to freight
a small vessel to Gibraltar. In this he was wrecked near Minorca,
where he consoled himself by marriage. In a few years, the world
smiled on him again, and he was growing rich on the profits of a
Cabaret, but his itching to become a merchant, and to adventure
on the seas, ruined him a second time; his schooner was taken by
the French, and he was compelled to enlist in their army, then
in Spain, in order to regain his liberty, by deserting at the first
convenient opportunity. He then visited Morocco with a Swedish
Consul, and told marvellous stories of the outrages and excesses
committed with impunity by the “ mad saints,” who rushed into
the houses and bit off the ears, and other delicate morsels of young
children, whenever an over-nicety in their appetite prompted
them. He was afterwards a short time at Janina, which he
insisted was in a country called “ true Barbary,” (nor could I
succeed either in undeceiving or understanding him) adding, that
although Ali Pacha was a “ second Buonaparte,” yet for his part
AND PORTO SANTO.
79
he never travelled so safely with property in any country. He
then became cook to some officers at Gibraltar, failed in an adven¬
ture to Madeira, and lived in the service of the British Consul,
until the profits of a baker’s shop managed by his wife, and a
manufactory of vermicelli and maccaroni, started by himself, (the
machinery for which he had imported from Genoa) set him on his
legs once more.
The white sandy beach of Porto Santo3 seemed to promise me
a different geological field for observation to that of Madeira, and
I was all impatience to get ashore, but it was necessary that I
should have the Governor’s permission to do so, which the captain
of the boat was despatched to procure; for the economical nature
of the government did not permit any Mercury to be in attendance
for this purpose; and, indeed, during the three days I resided
there, I could never discover that the governor had more than
one king’s servant under his command, for all the purposes
of ordinary state, and he (distinguished by being clothed in
tattered remnants of various uniforms) opened the gates, hoisted
the flag, beat the drum at sunrise and sunset, swept the yard,
helped in the kitchen, and waited at table when the governor had
company. I should mention, that the governor himself, a major
in the army, has only 600 dollars a year from the government,
depending for any thing more on his own ingenuity. The captain
of the boat tied his better suit of clothes in a handkerchief, which
he held on the top of his head, and plunging into the water, swam
ashore; but although he quitted us at seven o’clock, it was
thought derogatory by the governor’s servant to acknowledge that
his Excellency had risen until nine, and then he must breakfast
a Porto Santo was discovered in 1418, by Joao Gonsalves Zarco and Tristao Vaz,
when driven out to sea by a tempest, in attempting to pass Cape Bojador, and
Madeira by the same persons, but not until three years after, according to Cadamosto.
Collegao de Noticias, p. 8.
so
EXCURSIONS IN MADEIRA
before he could grant the audience ; in which he graciously
permitted us to come ashore, in a place where there seemed
nobody but himself and the drummer to prevent us. The landing
is almost as bad as that at Funchal. I begged to wash myself
before I proceeded to the governor’s, and was bowed into a stable,
and furnished with a decanter of water, not as the most conve¬
nient, but as the most splendid vessel that could be immediately
laid hold of in the neighbourhood. The governor’s house looked
like that of the lawyer in a small village in England; it was very
neat, of one story, and contained but two sitting rooms, one of
which, however, was spacious, and very comfortably furnished. A
row of cannons (some of which had fallen from their carriages,
whilst the others, from their monstrous touch-holes and rusty
condition, were emblems of peace rather than war, and fit subjects
for a society of antiquaries) adorned the turf before the house,
and a second row, in sufficiently good condition for the gunner or
drummer to fire a salute with some safety, was ranged in the yard.
We were given to understand, that we should find the Governor
in his library, which proved to be a small room level with the
court, adorned with about a dozen books, the drum, some old
maps of Sanson and Jansens, (more useful for giving an idea of
the history, than of the actual state of geography) and some rude
drawings of his son’s, a genteel, smart boy, about thirteen years of
age. His Excellency wras hard at wTork in a cotton jacket, writing
despatches to Madeira; the unexpected appearance of our boat
having flattered him with the rare opportunity of communicating
the unchangeable state of things in Porto Santo to his superior.
He received me with the greatest politeness, and begged me to
believe, that both he and his house were at my service, and
sending for the Commandant (an old man of seventy, distinguished
by a red edging to his great coat) charged him to order one of the
most intelligent of the better class of peasantry, on his allegiance,
AND TORTO SANTO.
81
as a militia-man, to accompany, and direct me, in my rambles
through the island.
The lowest visible deposit in the island of Porto Santo, is a
calcareous tufa, of a greenish-grey colour, which extends, in the
north-eastern parts of the island, to a height of 1600 feet, and is
ribbed throughout with numerous vertical dikes, of a reddish-
brown basalt. The middle of the island affords a plain, or rather
a shallow basin of sandstone, on a level with the sea on the south
side, where it covers the beach -with a siliceous sand, which, as
we walk to the eastward, gradually becomes mingled with the
black ferruginous sand resulting from the decomposition of the
tufa. Following this plain in its greatest length, that is, from the
beach on the south side, to the F onte Araya, which is immediately
above the beach on the north side, (a distance of 2$ miles, and
forming the breadth of the middle part of the island) we find
ourselves on a sloping cliff, 418 feet above the sea. We may
descend this cliff with ease for 134 feet, where the sandstone
terminates, being superposed on the tufa, which is here 284 feet
deep, (that is, from its junction with the sandstone, to the surface
of the waters which hide it) and is still intersected by basaltic
dikes, which have evidently descended through it, from the highest
peaks of the interior of the island.
The lowest bed of this sandstone (which may be best examined
in the excavations near the southern beach, being hidden by sand
and debris at Araya) is hard and solid, and is used as a building-
stone. It is of a reddish buff-colour, of a slaty structure, with
indurated veins, effervesces pretty vigorously, and presents small
black spots, apparently ferruginous. This gradually passes into a
looser sandstone (best seen at Araya), of a lighter buff colour
within, acquiring a blackened scoriaceous appearance on its outer
surface, and of a less stratified appearance, whilst the still looser
sandstone above it, presents horizontal bands in the vicinity of
M
82
EXCURSIONS IN MADEIRA
that just described ; then a considerable vertical depth with
oblique lines, like lines of cleavage, on its surface ; where it
became harder, covering the cliff with a ragged outline of large
indurated flakes, shooting upwards. I made two sketches, the one
when half way down the cliff, the other when on the summit,
with my face turned inland, so as to take in the three peaks,
Plate 7, A, which are composed of the same tufa, intersected by
dikes, which appears between the sandstone and the sea in the
other drawing, Plate 7, Bb, the sandstone having been deposited
on it, only in the lower part of the island, which happens to be the
middle. The looser sandstone immediately below the flaky, and
which yielded to the fingers, contained, in its upper and outer
surface, an ampullina, (or marine ampullar ia ) a large helix resem¬
bling the h. plicata, fig. 17c, but differing, from the plate being on
the last whorl, which does not advance as far into the mouth ; a
still larger, wholly unknown to me, fig. 16, and two others, the
one, a helicella of De Ferussac’s groupe, marginata, the other, a
helicigona of the groupe, vortices d. I found none of these shells,
which were notoriously in a fossil state, deep within the mass,
although it does not follow that they are not to be found there ;
but some of the upper masses of this loose sandstone on the plain,
seemed almost entirely composed, throughout, of a small bulimus,
fig. 15, two species of helicella, fig. 13 and 14, each belonging to
De Ferussac’s groupe, aplostonue, the one perfectly smooth, and the
other striated longitudinally. All these shells were quite white.
I found no ampullina amongst the shells of the beach, no bulimi
b It is of a greenish-grey colour, with orange-red ferruginous spots; it becomes
harder upwards, and its specific gravity is 1.95.
c Since named h. subplicata. Sowerby. — Ed.
d In examining the beds of sandstone at the northern extremity of the Punta Araya,
near Cumana, frequently bathed by the sea, Baron de Humboldt observed univalve
shells, resembling the genus helix, mixed with marine bivalves. Voyage, 1. 2, c. 5.
tf",'/. f//rn .//,'A ?/VSu>,j
EAJ? T©
AND PORTO SANTO.
83
any where, and the existing helices (thickly strewed over the soil
formed by the calcareous tufa, and found very sparingly on the fig-
trees in the sandy plain), were specifically distinct from the con¬
siderably smaller ones, forming entire masses of the loose sand¬
stone ; and generically distinct from the enormous species imbedded
in its surface6.
The flaky sandstone frequently formed isolated ledges, or
hillocks, of a most picturesque appearance, on the southern part
of the plain, numerous flakes being regularly piled on each other,
shooting upwards from the soil in angles of 45°, and seeming
to emulate the lofty peaks of tufa behind them, Plate 7, Af.
Imbedded in these hillocks are numerous, close-grained, indurated,
cornuform, hollow masses, with smaller lateral branches, which
I conceive to have been formed by the sand having enveloped
plants or fragments of wood, subsequently and entirely decom¬
posed. These sands have evidently been thrown up by the sea,
on the low southern coast of the island (almost on a level with it),
and have been gradually advanced, and propelled inland, and
afterwards more or less agglutinated, until they have reached the
northern side, enveloping the vegetation, and entombing the
e The recent shells which I found on the beach of Porto Santo, were a cyprcca, a
cassidaria, of an orange-colour ; three species of colombellci, a trochus of a dusky
ground, and spotted with a dull red ; three pectines, one spotted with red, another
brown, streaked with white and rose-colour, and the shell remarkably thick in
texture, (probably a variety of the p. fiexuosus ) and fig. 20, of a pale colour, mam-
millated and shaded with light green ; four species of venus, one white with brown
streaks, and a rose-coloured apex, fig. 19, a second of a pale flesh-colour, and another
of the same colour, but nearly transparent, also one of a flesh-colour with rich brown
streaks; fig. 18, the cardium edule, a small halyotis, of a deep red, with green and
orange streaks ; perhaps a variety of h. tuberculosa, and a rose-coloured echinus,
streaked with purple, and with a brown spot at the insertion of each spine.
f According to M. Beudant, the basaltic tufas of Tihany are covered by a sandstone
resembling the silex molaire of the Environs of Paris.
84
EXCURSIONS IN MADEIRA
different races of terrestial molluscae which inhabited the soil.
For the soil must then have been formed of that calcareous tufa
which we now find beneath the sandstone, and on which the
living helices are still scattered in prodigious quantities, whilst
they are not to be met with on the sandy soil K Perhaps the
system of winds for this part of the Atlantic has been modified
in the course of ages h, and the south may have prevailed more
frequently formerly, when the outlines, if not the number, of the
continents and islands in this sea were different.
I took a boat and went to the small island of Baxo, one mile
and a half in its length, (which bears about N.N.E. and S.S.W.)
and half a mile in its greatest breadth. It is only half a mile
distant from the south-west end of Porto Santo (entirely composed
of cliffs of tufa with six dikes), from which it has been evidently
separated. Half this intervening space of water is occupied by
a bank, and there are only five fathoms in the deepest part of the
narrow channel, which is also obstructed by rocks. To get at all
the strata in succession, I was obliged to climb up an almost
perpendicular height of about 220 feet, on my hands and knees ;
not daring once to look behind me, and frequently shoved and
dragged up by my guide, who conducted me down by a com-
s M. Bremontier, who has examined and studied sandy deposits of this nature
(dunes) very thoroughly, estimates their progress at sixty feet in the year, in some
parts, and seventy-two in others. In 2000 years they will arrive at, and cover Bor¬
deaux, (as they have, already, several villages of the Gulf of Gascony) according to
his calculation ; and, from their present extent, rather more than 4000 years must
have elapsed since their formation commenced. Cuvier, Discours sur la Theorie de
la Terre, p. 76.
h The evidences of a change of climate having taken place in the northern temperate
zone, are numerous : (See Bowdich’s Elements of Conchology, Introduction, p. viii.)
and the influence of differences of climate on prevailing winds has been admirably
investigated by de Humboldt. De I'lnjluence de la Declinaison du soleil sur le
Commencement des P lutes Equatoriales. Annales de Chimie, 1821, p. 179.
AND PORTO SANTO.
85
paratively safe descent from the south-western end, but where
many of the strata were covered by debris. We first ascended
about 100 feet of the same tufa which I have described at Porto
Santo ; then twelve feet of limestone, of a granular sandy struc¬
ture, glimmering lustre, and emitting an alliaceous odour when
struck ; it contained no fossils, or at least none that I could dis¬
cover, after examining and breaking away its surface in various
directions, and after splitting numerous large fragments' ; it is of a
buff ground, sprinkled with grey and red spots, or grains. Above
this, I found about fifty feet of a conglomerate of nodules of basalt,
or rather of wakke (from its colour, fracture, and specific gravity);
these nodules were very large below, but diminished in size
upwards, until they looked like rusty nail-heads, inserted in a
ground of a ferruginous sandy earth, not effervescing, of a brick
and dull orange red, and yielding to the nail : this earth was
covered with connected lines (spread like a net-work) of mam-
millated carbonate of lime, pervading the whole mass, some¬
times lining small cavities, and of a dull white passing into
grey. We then climbed over from eight to ten feet of a con¬
glomerate limestone, generally of a chalky white, soiling the fin¬
gers, sometimes of a whitish blue, and containing large nodules
of wakke, and imbedded masses of a granular sandy limestone,
resembling that before described, but with more grey, and less red
in its composition ; the additional grey appearing to have been
supplied by very small fragments of basalt. The white part
of this limestone presented immense masses of Lamarck’s cate-
niporce ( tubipora catenulata Lin. Gm.), and with much difficulty
I chiselled out (for like that below, it was excessively hard) some
perfect moulds of a large cardium ; and the cardium edule ; one
s The fetid limestone, submitted to an excess of muriatic acid, affords a residue of
nearly .49 of silex ; the white limestone leaves scarcely any, and its specific gravity
24, is 1 less than that of the fetid.
S6
EXCURSIONS IN MADEIRA
end of the Mytilus lithopliagus, of a solen, moulds of various¬
sized venuses ; a voluta ; a turritella ; a conus, like that at Lisbon,
the pecten multiradiatus, and the pecten glaber, (neither of which
species, I believe, have before been found in a fossil state) and
the fragment of a large white pecten, apparently the p. maximus.
Some of the cardia were imbedded with the valves thrown open,
and presented ridges like the ligaments, and even the orange
colour of several of the pectines was preserved, and there were
several impressions like area. k. This limestone afforded no odour
when struck. I found a beautiful fossil nearer the beach, which
appears to me to be an echinanthus1, perhaps it had fallen from
above, with some of the fragments of this limestone, which,
with the other, supplies the kilns of Funchal. Above this shelly
limestone was about six feet of a fine-grained, indurated sandstone,
deposited in layers, with projecting ledges, and acquiring a sco-
riaceous appearance, and dark-grey colour on the outer surface,
from exposure to the atmosphere, but presenting an orange-brown
within, and effervescing. On this rested a conglomerate, about
fifty feet deep, of nodules of wakke, of a lesser portion of the
orange-coloured ferruginous sand, and of small fragments of wakke,
emerging like nail-heads, and coated (with the exception of the
upper surface) with an indurated grey clay ; which also lines
small cavities in a mammillated form. No part of this con¬
glomerate effervesced, but it was covered by a shallow horizontal
bed of sandstone, of the same nature as that above the fetid
limestone.
Through all these different horizontal masses, (that is, from the
k The solenes, cardia, and pectines, may be said, from their greater abundance, to
characterize this rock. The calcareous breccia; of Araya, near Cumana, contain
solenes, pectines, and ampullarice, (Humboldt, Relation Historique, 1. 2, c. 5) ; the
latter are only found in the sandstone at Porto Santo.
1 An affinis, e. cucurbites ?
AND PORTO SANTO.
87
summit of the table land, of which this island is principally
formed, to the sea, a depth of about 240 feet) descend, more or less
perpendicularly, numerous basaltic dikes, sometimes jutting out
like walls, and serving as rude stairs in the ascent, at others, nearly
even with the surface of the various rocks they intersect, and fre¬
quently running parallel with the beach for some distance, at the
water’s edge, and forming rude piers. In some parts, their surface
was covered with considerable patches of a dull coralloidal carbonate
of lime, and in the basalt of the dikes on the north side, (for it was
the eastward face which afforded me the section I have described)
I found beautiful crystals of nepheline. A composita ( flosculoms )
with white decomposed leaves, a ligneous stem, and flowers borne
in large close panicles, characterized the whole of this limestone
island ; the absence of the florets prevented me from determining
it ; the involucra were polyphyllous, and the receptacles covered
with silky hairs. Several small masses of the spongia officinalis lay
on the beach.
The peaks of tufa in the north-eastern part of Porto Santo, are
capped with a basalt approaching to phonolite, (which, if I mistake
not, has been found to cap the basaltic mountains of Bohemia and
other parts of Europe) by its lighter colour, numerous vitreous
crystals of felspar, decomposing crystals of common hornblende,
and lesser specific gravity, 2. 1 5 ; but it yielded no particular
sound like phonolite, and its lamellar structure deviated in one
instance into large pentagonal columns ; immediately beneath this
capping of lighter basalt, appear the dikes, which descend through
the tufa to the sea ; the upper parts of these dikes (sometimes
elevated 1600 feet above the sea), are generally of an earthy brown,
ferruginous appearance, but as they approach the sea, the basalt
becomes of a dark grey colour, and in the north-eastern point of
the island, especially, near Pico da Cruz, it is studded with large,
but imperfect, crystals of basaltic hornblende. In descending by
88
EXCURSIONS IN MADEIRA
these dikes to the sea, immediately north of Pico Juliana,
(apparently the highest in the island, yet not much exceeding that
of Castello) I found a deposit of native alum ; and almost on a
level with the sea, another of a bright orange ochre m, accompanied
by a ferruginous spring. The tufa would seem to be strongly
impregnated with muriate of soda, for all the streams which issue
from it, at whatever height, are very brackish, whilst the water
from the sandstone is always pure, even when the sources are
much nearer the sea than those of the tufa". I saw a large piece
of fibrous gypsum at the Governor’s, and it was said to be found
in abundance in the north-eastern rocks, or islets, of Pescada and
Lorenco, and in a third, about two miles from the shore. I should
have made a point of visiting these rocks ; the rock of F onte
(about a mile from the northern shore), the island of F arol (about
half a mile from Fachoda, the W.S.W. point of Porto Santo),
which appeared to me to be covered with scoriaceous basalt, over¬
laying the tufa, and dipping rapidly to the W.S.W., and the island
of da Serra about half a mile from Dos Frades, the S.S.E. point of
Porto Santo ; — but to do this, which would not have occupied two
days more, I must have given up the opportunity of returning
with the Genoese, and hired a boat at my own expense, to carry
me back to Madeira, which was out of the question. I was pre¬
vented from examining the Desertas (which have evidently been
divided by the strong south-west current that sets against them),
by similar considerations.
There are no traces of primitive or secondary formations in
m This ochre was evidently formed from the decomposition of the basalt, for on
breaking a lump, a nucleus of basalt was found within it. It is a richer pigment than
the ochre imported at Madeira from Teneriffe, to paint the doors and wainscots of the
houses, in imitation of mahogany.
" In this respect, it approaches Baron de Humboldt’s argil e muriatifere of Araya,
near Cumana, also found nearly 13,000 feet above the sea, on the Cordillieres of New
Grenada. Relation Historique, 1. 2, c. 5.
AMD PORTO CANTO
SO
Porto Santo ; but the calcareous tufa just described, which is a
tertiary formation0, seems to form its base, or at all events, is
lower than the present level of the sea, in the whole circumference
of the island. If we assume, that there are transition, or secon¬
dary rocks beneath this tufa, and hidden by the sea, we must also
assume, in order to admit the pre-existence of Porto Santo as a
secondary formation, like Madeira, that the sea has been at a lower
level than it is now, or, that the shock wrhich rent the previous
formation to admit of the throwing up of the clayey tufa, also
undermined these older rocks, and buried every vestige of the
former island beneath the ocean. When we associate the circum¬
stance of the shelly hm estone, in the adjacent island ofBaxo, being
160 feet above the sea, and about sixty feet above a similar deposit
of tufa, it seems to be much more natural to conclude, that both
Porto Santo and Baxo were formed beneath the ocean, and after¬
wards hove up, at a comparatively late period. Mewing Porto
Santo apart, it would be more simple to conclude, that the tufa,
(which is deposited confusedly, and not in beds) created by a sub¬
marine volcano, was added, heap upon heap, and thus became
raised above the water ; in which case, (recollecting that it is found
at a height of 1600 feet above the sea, in the north-eastern parts
of the island) we must have admitted, that it continued to flow
through some crater or opening, long after the first emerging of
the island. But this reasoning is not applicable to the adjacent
island, which presents the shelly limestone above the tufa, and
which has evidently been separated from Porto Santo. The basalt
which caps the peaks, and descends in dikes, not only through the
° Combined with the limestone and sandstone, it seems to resemble the local
marney formation described by D’Aubuisson, at the foot of the Pyrenees, more than
any other, {Trait e de Geognosie, vol. II. p. 436) ; unless it be the argile muriatife're,
sandstone, and shelly limestone breccias at Araya, near Cumana. — Humboldt, Relation
Historique, 1. 2, c. v.
N
90
EXCURSION'S IN MADEIRA
tufa of Porto Santo, but through the conglomerates, limestones, and
tufa of Baxo, is probably coeval with the forcible elevation of these
islands ; the fissures being created by the convulsions preceding it.
One thing, however, seems certain, that the sandstone at Porto
Santo, which is not intersected by these dikes, was deposited sub¬
sequently to the appearance of the shelly limestone. Whether it
was hove up from beneath, as I am much inclined to believe, or
whether it became visible above the waters from a depression of
the channel of the ocean, I can say nothing in favour of the
hypothesis, that the heights of Madeira, Porto Santo and the
Canaries, may have formerly made part of a chain of primitive
mountains, distinct from, or continuing, the present western ex¬
tremity of the Atlas. The limestone beneath the basalt at
Madeira, is evidently of the same nature and formation as that
beneath the basalt at Lisbon. The shelly limestone of Baxo is
distinct from that at Almada on the Tagus p, but it is probably of
the same formation as the shelly limestone, mentioned by Baron
de Humboldt, as covered by basalt on the coasts of Portugal. Of
what formation is the limestone found on the coast of Africa, op¬
posite to Teneriffe? and does that, subordinate to the tufa at
Lancerota and Forteventura, resemble either of those at Baxoq?
The deposit of the sand stone on the plain of Porto Santo, seems
to have been providential, for it has enabled the inhabitants
(about 1400) to cultivate the vine, which would not succeed in
the calcareous clayey tufa, which yields them good crops of wheat,
Indian corn (zea-mays), barley1, beans, and peas ; forming a con¬
trast of cultivated vegetation, particularly striking in a small island,
p Vide supra.
q Humboldt, Rel. Hist. 1., 1., c- ii., and Supplement p. 641. 4to.
r The produce of Porto Santo, in 1813, was 695 pipes of wine, 3768 bushels of
wheat, and 1628 bushels of barley. The population amounts to 1400, and there are
300 militia. M. Laplace, in Paris, and Mr. Morton Pitt, in a village of Devonshire,
found, that the number of men capable of bearing arms, amounted to 4th of the whole
AND PORTO SANTO.
91
six miles long, and two and a half broad. It was the worst
possible moment in the year to look for plants, in which Porto
Santo is at all times poor. The oestrum scandens, (when clipped,
it formed hedges and the stem became very strong) the disandra
africana, (answering to the specific description of Jussieu, but not
to that of Persoon) and the rosmarinus officinalis , seemed to be the
only plants which then characterized the vegetation of the sand¬
stone soil. In my eastern ramble, I found the thymus angustifolia,
fumaria parviflora, raphanus raphanistrum, erica scoparia, the poly¬
podium already described, and the calendula officinalis. Towards
the west I met with the papaver rhceass, senecio vulgaris, a grass
too far gone to determine, but which I believe to be an agrostis,
a verbascum, the nepeta calaminta, solanum pubescens, euphorbia
lophogona, an acrostichum , a mesembryanthemum, and, on the shore,
a salsola (an mollis ?). The lichen roccella abounds in the neigh¬
bourhood of the eastern cliffs. It is said, however, to be generally
inferior to that of the Salvages and Cape V erd Islands : the darker
variety, in which the fructification is most abundant, and which
is found most inland, is preferred to the lighter-coloured, which
is found near the sea‘. A solitary dragon treeu ( dracoena draco,)
population ; and Ghetti, in the fifteenth century, calculating the number of Floren¬
tine citizens capable of bearing arms, at 80,000, by computing four persons with each,
so as to include infirm people, women and children, estimated the population at
400,000. Roscoes Life of Lorenzo de Medici, vol. I. p. 171.
5 They also cultivate the p. somniferum in small quantities, for the sake of its
medicinal qualities.
1 It may be purchased in Madeira for five dollars the pound, but it is a monopoly,
and can only be shipped to Lisbon, and that by one person. The tax on it was
formerly considered to be the Queen of Portugal’s pin-money. Some say here, that it
is used as a scarlet dye, others as a mordant. I thought it produced a lilach dye onlv,
and that very fleeting. It is said to fetcli seventy dollars a pound in Genoa : 4600
arrobas, or nearly 68 tons (the Portuguese weights being four per cent, heavier than
the English), were shipped from the Cape Verde islands for Lisbon, in 1803.
u Sir Humphry Davy has shewn, that the comparative longevity of trees may be
92
EXCURSIONS IN MADEIRA
presented itself (with some remarkably tall cacti ) just above the
Fonte dos Anjos, near Pico Facho. Baron de Humboldt considers
the Dracoena Draco as exclusively indigenous to India, and infers,
that the Guanches were, or had been, in relation with some Asiatic
race1. I am inclined to think it is also natural to Porto Santo,
and perhaps to Madeira; not of course from the solitary indivi¬
dual now remaining in the former island, (which is not seven feet
in circumference) or from the eight or ten larger ones to the north,
and to the east of the town of Funchal, but from the subjoined
account of Cadamosto', who visited Porto Santo in 1445z.
Cordeyro writes, that the dragon trees of Porto Santo were so
large, that fishing boats, capable of containing six or seven men,
pretty nearly estimated by the quantity of charcoal produced by their woods;
M. Mirbel doubts if this rule would apply to the Baobab and Dragon trees, from the
loose texture of the wood (Elemens de Physiologie vegetale, t. 1, p. 375.) I availed
myself of the opportunity of making the experiment, which I did carefully in an
earthern retort, stopping the mouth, directly the whole of the gaseous matter had
escaped, and breaking it that I might not loose an atom of the charcoal ; which was
of a light fibrous texture, resembling horse-hair, and amounting only to 0.05 of the
weight of the wood which furnished it. Tradition reports, that the dragon tree of
Orotava (forty-five feet in circumference) was as large in 1402, as Baron de Humboldt
found it in 1799 ; and the baobabs of Senegal (upwards of 100 feet in circumference),
are upwards of 5000 years old, if we may trust the calculations of Adanson.
* Tableau de la Nature. Physionomie des Vegetaux, t. 2. p. 110.
*,i* . Acha — se tarnbem nella sangue de Drago, que se cria em algumas,
arvores, e he hurna goma, que ellas estilao em certo tempo do anno, e se colhe por
esta maneira : fazern alguns golpes com hum cutello no pe da arvore, e no anno
seguinte em certo tempo, as ditas cortaduras estilao a gomma, que cosem, e purificao
e assin se fa* o Sangue. Esta arvore produz hum certo fruto, que no mez de Mar§o
esta maduro, e he muito bom para comer, a semelhan§a de cerejas, mas amarello.”
.... Collegdo de noticias para a historia e geografia das nagoes ultramarinas que
vivern nos dominios Portuguezes, ou Ikes sao visinhas, publicada pela Academia Reed
das Sciencias. Lisboa, 1812. Tom. 2, p. 8.
2 The Portuguese editors have shewn, in their introduction (p. xii, xiii,) that
Cadamosto’s voyage to the coast of Africa, took place in this year, instead of 1454,
as in the first edition of Cadamosto ; or 1501, as in the Latin translation of Grynaeus.
AND PORTO SANTO.
93
were made out of the trunks, and that the inhabitants fattened
their pigs on the fruit ; but he adds, that so many boats, shields,
and corn-measures had been made out of them, that even in his
time there was scarcely a dragon tree to be seen in the island a.
Indeed there are not twenty trees of any kind left standing in the
island at present, and the inhabitants are obliged to make fires of
dried cow dung, when they cannot afford to import fire wood from
Madeira. If the ancients had visited Madeira and Porto Santo, as
M. Heeren supposes6, would they not, probably, have noticed this
extraordinary tree, which struck Cadamosto so forcibly ?
We shot th efalco oesalonc; the upupa capensis, which I presume
was not known to inhabit so far north ; the larus canus, said by the
natives to be blown over from the African coast; the columba livia,
of which there are large flocks ; a turdus d ; the loxia enucleator,
and a larger corythus e.
The temperature of the spring at Araya, (December 13th) was
66° or 42° higher than that of the air, which must be pretty
nearly the mean temperature of Porto Santo. On the sandy
beach of the south side of the island, the thermometer stood at 67°
at half past three P.M., and 60° at sunset.
* Historia Insulana das Ilhas a Portugal Sugeytas no Oceano Occidental, composta
pelo Padre Antonio Cordeyro da Companhia de Jesus. Lisboa, Occidental, 1717.
b He considers them to be the Fortunate Islands of Diodorus Siculus. Afrika,
tom. 1. p. 124.
c For its parasitical insect (a ricinus,) see fig. 22; b, the under view, c, the claw,
(both magnified) colour pale brown. The peasantry say, that this falcon makes a
very good soup, and I remarked, that the stomachs of two which I dissected con¬
tained nothing but insects ( grylli ) and grains.
d The back and belly are brown, with patches of yellow, the wings and tail brown ;
the beak is strong, and of a brown colour, except the first half of the lower mandible,
which is yellow.
* It is 16| inches long: the two first pen-feathers of the wing, are but indistinctly
edged with white ; the five exterior long feathers of the tail are each marked with a
white spot at the end.
94
EXCURSIONS IN MADEIRA
I cannot speak too highly of the hospitable and obliging dis¬
position of the proprietors of Porto Santo, who may be compared
with our smaller Welch farmers. I never pursued my rambles
without being entreated to turn a little out of my way to drink a
cup of their best wine, which was no small temptation, being the
pure juice of the richest grapes, without even a dash of spirit; and
before we quitted the island, one sent a dozen of this wine,
another, two dozen, a third, a fine turkey; agreeably reminding
me of the African custom of “ making a dash” to a stranger : their
horses, their servants, all were at my service, and I was obliged to
start by daylight, to avoid the necessity of accepting the use of the
former (not suiting my route amongst the cliffs and peaks), four
of which were sent for me in one morning. Instead of that
impertinent curiosity, accompanied by a broad laugh or contemp¬
tuous sneer, which a traveller too often meets with from the class
immediately above the peasantry in Madeira, wt1io ridicule every¬
thing they do not understand, and always take fresh pride to
themselves on discovering fresh proofs of their ignorance ; instead
of this feeling, which is made more striking by the polished
manners of the higher orders, and by the respectful civility of the
peasantry, the same class of men in Porto Santo, although prompted
by a more laudable curiosity, never ventured to approach an
instrument unless I invited them to do so, and then modestly
sought some explanation of its use and object.
I had great difficulty in excusing myself from breakfasting and
dining with the governor, on each of the three days of my stay,
which I made the most of, by quitting the town at sunrise, and
never returning until dark. Every evening, however, after I had
deposited my spoils in the embryo shop of my friend Battista, and
inquired as to the sales of the day, and the rising prospects of the
new establishment, we both left off work, washed our hands, and
adjourned to the soiree of the governor’s lady, who dispensed
AND PORTO SANTO.
9.5
excellent green tea, new cakes, and old packs of cards every
evening ; with the view, as she archly termed it, of civilizing the
officers of the militia a little, amongst whom the serjeants were
included. She was not handsome, but of very ladylike and
agreeable manners, and full of entertaining conversation. Having
groped our way to the government house, we were quitted at the
portal by a small mob of the humbler friends and acquaintances
we had made in the town, (the Genoese in the course of his daily
trade, and I amongst the fishermen) strumming the following
chords on their guitars (which form the accompaniment to all the
national songs of both islands),
all evidently envying us the proud distinction we were on the eve
of enjoying,
- videbit
Permixtos heroas, et ipse videbitur illis ;
and whispering a hear-say detail of the pomp and ceremony we
should encounter within ; the more thriving, dropping sly hints
that they were not without the ambitious hope of “ jostling with
these gods,” and sipping the same nectar, before they died. We
had first of all, which was not a little difficult, when the whole of
the court was assembled there, to squeeze into the governor’s
library, where we generally found them discussing the informalities
of some Serjeant’s warrant or commission, the fragments of a
Madeira gazette, a month old (which had probably been wrapped
96
EXCURSIONS IN MADEIRA
round some parcel of grocery from Funchal), and the rising glory'
and future greatness of the Portuguese nation. Presently, “ lights
in the sala !” were announced, and after much ceremony in arrang¬
ing the precedence, the whole party moved up stairs, preceded by
the solitary taper which had illumined the assembly below. The
ladies were then sent for by his excellency, and entered with due
form, each gentleman standing erect with his chair in his hand,
not only on their first entree, but whenever either of them quitted
the room, or entered it afterwards. The female party never
exceeded three, the governor’s lady, the commandant’s (a shrewd
old woman), and Donna Antonia her daughter, the belle of the
island, who disguised a tolerable figure, by a gown resembling a
Sack with sleeves to it, and a pretty face, by the free use of snuff.
Her conversation, however, was sprightly, and her manners pleas¬
ing. The greatest ornament to the party was the priest, a liberal,
sensible man, an enthusiastic admirer of Livy, and full of interest¬
ing information and large views on the catholic missions to
uncivilized countries. He spoke French with tolerable ease,
substituting whole sentences of colloquial Latin, when he was at
all at a loss : his figure was commanding, and his manners very
dignified. The militia officers, who, as if wearied by the monotony
of their uniforms, looked like so many faded rainbows in their
plain clothes, were the most respectable proprietors and farmers
of the island. Their conversation, when it did not turn on the
cultivation of their land, which their politeness to the ladies would
not always allow, abounded in the most singular notions: when I
admired a beautiful fragment of fibrous gypsum, which lay in the
governor’s room, and inquired in what part of the island it was
found, they observed to each other, with some surprise, that it was
evident that its value as a medicine was known even in my
country, for I could have no other object in seeking it; explaining
to me, that there was formerly a medical man resident in the
AND PORTO SANTO.
97
island, and that he told them confidently when he quitted it, that
this stone, powdered, and swallowed in wine, was an excellent
remedy for the gout.
My friend the Genoese excelled, not only in slight-of-hand tricks,
of which he possessed a rich variety, but in several other kinds,
which were preceded by more or less pantomime. He generally
displayed his science after the round game (which never inter¬
rupted the conversation of the parties) was over. After several
capital tricks with cards, he generally announced another of a
different nature, by declaring, that it would be necessary for every
gentleman in company, the governor excepted, to stand up and
go through the various attitudes which he must exhibit seriatim ,
in order to succeed in the exploit with which he would have the
honour to astonish them : and, beginning with some of the less
ridiculous, such as standing on one leg and scratching his elevated
chin, which every one rose from his chair in turn and repeated,
he led them through a series of postures, inconceivably ridiculous
in themselves, but exceeding even his own warmest expectations
in effect, when imitated by their unwieldy figures and clumsy
movements. Some unfortunate serjeant, recently elevated to the
rank and the society appended to it, and possessing all the due
humility of a younger member, was generally the victim of the
ingenuity of the Genoese, who excited a shout of laughter amongst
the elder superiors, when in one of the movements he exchanged
hats with his labouring imitator, rubbing the crown of that lie
had just received violently all over his face, as he whirled round,
in which he wras followed with double earnestness by the other,
who, by the artful preparation of the owner of the hat, was all the
wrhile unconsciously blacking his own face. Some brilliant decep¬
tion, however, immediately followed, as if it w ere the suite of the
plot, and the sufferer was compelled to admire and smile. On
O
98
EXCURSIONS IN MADEIRA
another occasion, a more dramatic vein of pleasantry was pursued
by the Italian, who humbly requested the Governor to abdicate,
and to allow him to appoint a Successor, a Corregidor, and a
Commandant, to conduct the apprehension and trial of a criminal,
who was afterwards hung behind the door with such capital effect,
that the ladies all but fainted; and I was enabled to discover for
which of the aspirants Donna Antonio was most particularly
interested. But it was the embarrassment, awkwardness, and
timidity, with which the inferiors chosen by him would ape the
airs of offices to which they had never dreamed of aspiring, while
the true possessors were looking on, which Battista had principally
in view.
About ten o’clock the officers took leave, some to trot into the
country, and magnetise their own families with the polish they
were thus gradually acquiring. The Italian went to sleep in his
shop, and I (after partaking of a liberal supper of cold fowl, fruit,
and preserves, made as I was assured by the lady herself) was
conducted to a comfortable room, with a bed. decked out with
flounced muslin sheets, and a glazed counterpane. The Governor,
who always waited breakfast and dinner, and sent the drummer
to scour the neighbourhood in the hope of finding me, insisted
that I should come home in time one day, and invited the Italian,
in his politeness, who insisted first on shaving me (seating me on
a barrel of dried fish, which he had in the shop), and then shaved
himself, neither was he at all discomposed, when the Governor’s
Mercury ran into the shop out of breath, and bounced up against
him (which by-the-by he could not well avoid, considering his
own speed, and the small space in which he was obliged to pull
up, in awful admiration of the universal genius of my friend), to
announce, that the Governor was waiting dinner for the Senhores.
We had an excellent dinner, and the intelligence of the Governor
AND PORTO SANTO.
99
(who had served in Brazil), the agreeable manners of his lady, the
liberal views of the priest, and the humour of the Italian, prolonged
our sitting over the dessert, almost to the opening of the soiree.
A soiree in Porto Santo forms a singular contrast to the weekly
soiree of a private family in F unchal. F rom fifty to sixty persons,
and sometimes more, meet together, spontaneously, about eight
o’clock, without a single effort on- the part of the lady of the
house ; four or five musicians are in attendance, and while one
large room is thrown open for cards, the largest is reserved for
quadrilles and sarabands. Nothing can exceed the agreeable and
well bred ease of the higher class of Portuguese ladies ; a stranger
almost immediately ceases to feel that he is so, from their amiable
and judicious condescension. They generally dress with more
splendour than taste, but they dance elegantly, and if the in¬
stances of beauty are not near so numerous as in the higher
classes of neighbouring nations, they are sometimes very striking.
Their figures are generally diminutive, and, too frequently, ill-pro¬
portioned and clumsy, but the former fault, rarely wanting, is
sometimes redeemed by a fairy-like symmetry. I have often
been electrified by the sudden glance of the sparkling dark eye,
which is raised to bewitch the foreigners in F ranee — hut, when
the dark eye of the Portuguese beauty is slowly raised from the
ground, where it generally reposes, as if the jealous eyelash would
be admired in its turn, it beams with so soft and swreet a melan¬
choly, that it excites the deepest interest, and can never be for¬
gotten. The balls given on particular occasions at private houses,
are much more splendid than those of the castle, w here a foreigner
cannot but feel distinguished, from the kindness and politeness of
the present governor, Don Antonio de Noronha. They are often
varied by instrumental and vocal music (the former generally good)
betwreen the dances, and sometimes by a ballet, performed by the
elder children, with great ease, spirit, and humour. As I pushed
100
EXCURSIONS IN MADEIRA
my way through the crowd of servants which are in attendance in
the halls and door-ways on these ocsasions, I was much entertained
with the anxious gestures of small parties of the palanquin bearers,
who had squatted themselves in different corners, playing with
dirty packs of cards, for the very hire they were not to receive
until the next morning. But I have as much kindness as pleasure
to acknowledge, when speaking of the elegant entertainments of
the Portuguese of the first class, the liberal hospitality of my
own countrymen settled in Madeira, has long been proverbially
well known.
AND PORTO SANTO.
101
CHAPTER IV.
Sketch of a Flora. — Geographical distribution of Plants. — Wines. —
Cultivation of the Vine. — Soils. — African Imports. — Vegetables. —
Dyes. — Timber.
Had any thing like a Flora of the island of Madeira ever been
published, I should not submit the observations I have been able
to make, during a short stay there, under the most unfavourable
circumstances. The chief obstacle I have encountered has been
the season; a great number of plants are underground, others
neither presenting flowers or fruit, and a considerable portion,
such as the graminere, entirely burnt up : the rains have been
unusually tardy, and consequently, the renewal of vegetation
delayed. Other difficulties I look upon as common to all who
would undertake a botanical report of Madeira, and only to be
overcome by a residence of years, which would allow of a patient
investigation. The enchanting landscape which presents itself,
flatters the botanist at his first view with a rich harvest, and not
until he begins to work in earnest, does he foresee the labours of
his task. What can be more delightful than to see the banana
and the violet on the same bank, and the mclia azedarach, with its
dark shining leaves, raising its summit as high as that of its neigh¬
bour, the populus alba ? It is this very gratification which occasions
the perplexity, at the same time that it confirms the opinion, that
Madeira might be made the finest experimental garden in the
102
EXCURSIONS IN MADEIRA
world, and that an interchange of the plants of the tropical and
temperate climates, might be made successfully, after they had
been completely naturalized there.
The Portuguese once drew their principal supplies of sugar from
Madeira f, but when the cane had succeeded in the West Indies®,
f In the fifteenth century, 400 Venetian cantaras of sugar were annually produced
in Madeira, but the relative capacity of this measure cannot now be ascertained.
Collegao de Noticia-s, p. 10. Sugar is still made in small quantities, but it is never
granulated. The West-India cane was the only one cultivated until within these few
years, when a variety was introduced from Cayenne, which is evidently the Bourbon
cane, ( s . luteurn of Tussac) from its short joints, and the colour of the bark, which is
of a deep yellow, tinged with red ; it is also considerably thicker than the others. The
common green cane (s. officinarum) has longer and smaller joints, occasionally tinged
with a patch of red. The Bourbon yields more sugar, but less juice, than the others,
and the only objection to it is, that the cattle will not eat its leaves, being rough and
prickly. The sugar cane was sent from Madeira to Vicente, on the coast of Brazil,
in 1531.
gThe Portuguese, however, seem first to have transferred the cane to the Island of
St. Thomas, on the African coast, (discovered in 1471-2,) from the curious account
ofa Portuguese pilot, who visited that island about 1550, when 150,000 arrobas (about
3000 hogsheads) of sugar were exported annually. The soil yielded a crop of ripe
canes every five months, the rains and cloudy atmosphere of March and September
occurring very seasonably. Several persons were sent from Madeira, to instruct the
Portuguese of St. Thomas in making the sugar whiter and harder. Collegao de
Noticias, p. 98. When the Dutch fleet, under Jol, took possession of St. Thomas
in 1641, those of the islanders who made terms with him, paid 5590 cruzados to pre¬
serve their sugar-works. I notice these evidences of the supplies of sugar which the
Portuguese formerly drew from Western Africa, (throughout the interior of which, the
cane grows spontaneously and abundantly) from the impression that it may at some
future day become a question, whether the most effectual method of bringing about
the entire and positive cessation of the slave-trade, (or, to say the least, to give the
finishing stroke to it) and to forestal the great and growing advantages of Brazil, at
the same time, will not be to cultivate sugar under the protection of our African
settlements, where labour may be commanded at a low rate, to any extent. To en¬
courage even this view — although it would annihilate a commerce insulting to the
Almighty, and criminal even in the mere toleration, and hasten the tardy civilization
of those, to whom we have yet to atone for ages of cruelty and wrong ; — to encourage
AND PORTO SANTO.
103
its culture was abandoned for that of the vine (introduced from
Cyprus'1), which became more profitable. The number of Scotch
and English families which have since resorted to it, have delighted
in forming beautiful gardens around their country-houses ; and
vegetables of every sort have thus been introduced, until it has
become impossible to draw the line between those that are indi¬
genous, and those that are naturalized. Added to this, the strong
sirocco winds which blow at different periods, must have trans¬
ported many seeds from the continent of Africa ; and its vicinity
to the Canaries and Azores, has probably enabled birds to bring
many of their vegetable productions to it. A fourth circumstance,
although by far the least contributive, also adds to this diversity ;
that of vessels from all parts of the world touching, and frequently
clearing out their cargoes, or cleansing their holds in the port : seve¬
ral seeds have thus been brought," and thrown amongst the rubbish
of the shore, which has afterwards been used for manure, and this
seems to me the most probable way of accounting for those plants
which are at once common to Madeira and America. Was it a
primitive country, we might more decidedly pronounce on indi¬
genous plants, but as it is entirely volcanic, its vegetation must have
been so progressive, from the lichen to the most stately dicotyledon,
that time must have been given for several of the above causes to
operate, before its completion. Even at the present moment, as
we pass through the country, we see the crustaceous lichens form¬
ing beautiful grayish green patches on the basaltic rocks at the
even this view, at the expense of the West India planter, that is, by imposing a lesser
duty on the African, would be very unfair ; but if the duty being the same, sugar were
grown at that low rate in Africa, which would enable us to undersell every foreign
colony, or even to supply Great Britain at a lower rate than she is now supplied by
the West Indies, surely a discouragement would be both unjust and unwise. Coffee,
indigo, cotton, and tobacco might be grown to any extent in Africa, the three latter
being indigenous and abundant.
h According to Cadamosto, therefore, before the year 1445.
104
EXCURSIONS IN MADEIRA
sides of the ravines, while the slightest coating of earth on the
same rock presents us with a higher class of lichen, and a moss ;
as this earth augments, we find the sempervivee and saxifrage ee, and
thus proceed, until we are shaded by thick groves of chestnuts
The variety of aspect, the different quantities of moisture (either
owing to the constant vicinity of the clouds or the torrents), the
greater or less exposure to the sea-breezes, all conspire to render
the division of plants into regions extremely difficult. My first
visit was to the eastern side of the island, where I fancied I could
decide on the different heights of plants, but on going to the
westward, there was so little accordance between the two, that I
can only now venture upon the greater outlines. I have divided
my list into families, that a comparison may be made between
the proportions they bear to each other, and that the total absence
of others may be more immediately noticed. In doing this, it will
be observed, that I have mentioned several, which are as yet but
premised, having only been published in the monographs of dis¬
tinguished botanists, but which will, in all probability, with many
others merely intimated, be generally known when the second
edition of M. de Jussieus Genera Plantarum appears ; an event
which is earnestly desired by all followers of the natural system.
I am not in possession of any specific descriptions of cryptogamia,
consequently, have only been able to notice genera, with a few
exceptions. With these explanations, I submit the little that I
have done, rather than be totally idle in this respect, whilst wait¬
ing for a passage to Africa, where my endeavours will, I hope,
produce more important results. See Appendix, No. I.
I have given what may be called the first, or Vine region, a
1 Baron de Humboldt observes, that, in countries near the tropics, succulent plants
appear before mosses ; but I found Madeira to accord with the general rules for the
progress of vegetation.
AND PORTO SANTO.
105
height of 2700 feet above the level of the sea ; at the extremity of
this, the vine can scarcely be called flourishing, as no wine can be
made from it, still it produces eatable fruit. I am confirmed in
giving it this height, from finding the plants of tropical countries
flourishing, with cultivation, to the same extent k. Taking the
extreme of the Baron de Humboldt’s vine region (corrected after
M. von Bucli), there is a difference of about 170 feet between us;
but the productions of the two exactly accord, excepting, that I
found a greater variety and mixture of European and tropical
plants1. M. von Buch has an intermediate region of African forms,
which will not apply to Madeira ; and it must be understood, that
all these plants do not ascend to the extremity of this region ; for
instance, the little sida carpinifolia exists in profusion in the lower
parts of the island, but totally disappears after we have ascended
1000 feet ; the tropical plants are of course chiejly confined to the
gardens at, or near, Funchal, Sfc. ; the few mentioned in the note
as confirming the extent of this region, are successfully cultivated
in the garden of Mr. Veitch’s Quinta, situated at its extremity.
The second, still taking the extreme, extends to 3700 feet. It
cannot be compared to the laurel zone, ( regio sylvatica,) of Baron
de Humboldt (reaching to about 4360 feet), but appears interme¬
diate, between the vine and laurel zone of Madeira. The broom
k According to Chaptal, the vine is found wild in Europe as far as 45° north, and
Catesby assigns the same limit in America.
1 In it grow spontaneously, the Agave, Arundo, Canna, Citrus, Cactus, Dracaena,
Digitalis, Dioscorea, Euphorbia, Filices, Fagus, Ficus, Hrpaticee, Jasminum, Liche-
nes, Lonicera, Musa, Myrtus, Phytolacca, Pelargonium, Rubus, Rosa, Sida, Sac-
charum. Tamarisk, Viola, Vinca, 8fC. ; and, with cultivation, Aloe, Arachis, Agave,
Annona, Bromelia, Bambusa, Coffea, Carica, Citrus, Canna, Datura , Dahlia, Doli-
chos, Duranta ; European fruits, Erythrinum, Gossypium, Guinea-grass, Gomphrena,
Hibiscus, Jatropha, Justicia, Lantana, Laurus, Mangifera, Maranta, Melia,
Nerium, Olea , Psidium, Populus, Quercus, Ricinus, Rosa, Solanum, Sicyos, Vinca,
Zea, SfC., 8fc.
r
106
EXCURSIONS IN MADEIRA
here predominates, and may give its name to the region ; ferns
( acrosticha) are occasionally mixed with it, but abound according
to locality. In it, we find the fagus castanea, flourishing according
to situation ; in the ravines it is most luxuriant, while in the
exposed parts of the hills it is stinted and solitary, but no where
confined to streams"1.
The third region, ascending to 5600 feet, is more complicated
than the others, being more influenced by locality ; it may best
be termed the region of Vaccinium and Laurels. On ascending
the peak of Ariero to the summit, we find the former shrub form¬
ing large thickets on the side next the Coural, while on the other,
exposed to the sea, the vegetation is confined to graminea and
erica ; the latter of which only now and then grow to the size of
trees. The juncus starts up in very considerable quantities, on the
same side with the vaccinium. On the Poul, (which is on the
western side of the island, and, within a few feet, as high as the
peak of Ariero) the same vaccinium abounds in thickets of small
trees, which confirms me in giving its name to the region ; and as
vegetation is more luxuriant on this side of the island, more
variety presented itself, the vaccinium predominating, and continu¬
ing to abound to the summit. In this region we find (besides the
juncus above mentioned) the thymus, staMlina, sonchus, ferns of
various genera, nepeta, ilex, taxus, erodium, digitalis, with various
small composita, Sj'c. The laurels (which I also consider as cha¬
racterizing this region, especially the lower part) grow to a very
large size on the western side of the island, while, on the eastern,
m We also find Graminece, very abundant in the less exposed situations ; the Ver-
bascum, Salix rubra, Agaricus , a small portion of Ericce, Composite, Mentha (abun¬
dant), Digitalis, Rubus (in great quantities), Solana, Rosa, Fuschia, Buxus, (the three
last have probably strayed from gardens) Capsicum, Hypnum, and Lichens, all
growing spontaneously. The Pinus sylvestris has been successfully cultivated in
the lower part of the region.
AND PORTO SANTO.
107
they do not attain the height of the vaccinium, and are by no
means large. On the top of Ariero, I found two or three solitary
plants of the little viola odor at a, in the most exposed situations :
on the western side of the island, which is the most sheltered, the
clethra formed large trees, and the digitalis grew at their feet. I
have thus mentioned the clethra separately, because I believe it to
be nearly peculiar to the peak of Ruivo, at the height of this
region. Travelling directly eastward, (where the soil is composed
of a deep red earth, containing more alumine than the ordinary
red tufa, where vegetation is more scanty, and loses all that rich
variety which is found to the westward) we find the broom pre¬
vailing at 2000 feet above the sea, and dwarf vaccinia, mixed with
broom, heath and bramble, on the downs near the Pilgrimage
House of Antonio de Serra (about ten miles from F unchal), which
are not more than 2500 feet above the sea, but comparatively
close to it.
The fourth, and last region, about 6000 feet high, is formed by
the upper part of the peak of Ruivo, and consists of arborescent
erica, patches of graminea, and here and there a solitary fern.
There is no end to the varieties of the vine in Madeira, if you
listen to the cultivators, no two of whom, however, agree in giving
the same name to the least important. I had no opportunity of
seeing the fruit, but have examined the leaves of the only varieties
which the cultivator thinks it worth while to separate ; collecting
them from different vineyards, and comparing them carefully, so
as not to be deceived in the names, which a person may easily be
without this precaution. The juices of the verdelho, negro molle,
bastardo, bnal, and tinta", are commonly mixed together, to pro-
n The verdelho leaf has seven lobes, the sinuses of which are not strongly marked ;
it is of a dark green, but perfectly bald ; the two lowest lobes are very indistinct.
That of the negro molle has five distinct lobes, the two lowest closing, but not ad¬
hering, over the stalk ; the sinuses are deep and round, the dentations large and
108
EXCURSIONS IN MADEIRA
duce the best Madeira wine, or that made in the southern part of
the island, which is principally indebted for its flavour to the two
latter. The tint a, when separated, produces a wine closely re¬
sembling Burgundy, in colour and flavour, when new, but much
softer ; becoming very like tawny port after it has been about two
years in the cask ; and not distinguishable, either in colour or
flavour, from rich old Madeira, at the end of twenty years. It is
the only red wine made in the island, and is suffered to ferment
with the husks of the fruit remaining in it, to fix the colour. It
would retain the character of Burgundy longer, were it bottled
earlier, but then there is the probability of its acquiring a bad
flavour from the sediment. The paler vines, such as the pure
verdelho or north wine, acquire an amber hue with age ; whereas,
those whose husks impart some portion of colour to the juice
during pressure, grow lighter with age. The sercial0 is said to be
the hock grape, brought from Europe ; this I cannot speak to,
having no description of the hock grape, but it strikes me, that
although the sercial is a dry wine, it is very unlike hock of an age
rounded ; it is slightly downy at the back, (the nerves strong and projecting) and of
a dark yellow green, inclining a little to red at the base. The bastardo leaf is
rounder than most others ; its lobes are indistinctly marked, and the dentations are
large and sharp ; it is of a light yellow green, downy at the back, and the whole
assumes a cockled appearance. Four of the sinuses of the bual leaf are very deep
and sharp ; the two lower are indistinct ; the dentations are sharp and irregular ; the
leaf is hairy on both sides. There are two varieties of tint a, the largest has seven
lobes, decreasing in size, and the sinuses very deep and rounded ; the middle lobe
is subdivided into two others, both indistinct; the smaller is of a more compact form,
and the lower sinuses much less deep than the others ; both are of a dark green with
purple spots, and downy at the back.
° The leaf of the sercial has four rounded sinuses ; the nerves are very strong, and
by their projections give a cockled appearance to the leaf ; it is of a very yellow
green, and cottony on both sides. It is said to grow best under precipices, in places
which attract the clouds, and as the husk is very thick, is left longer than the others
to ripen.
AND PORTO SANTO.
109
to be transported. There are at least three qualities of Malmsey :
the cade l or candy p is the best, but produces little ; the babosa
and malvazion yield pretty abundantly, but the latter is very
inferior q. The fermentation of malmsey is checked earlier than
that of the other wines, to increase its sweetness.
The best soil for the vine is saibro, or an equal mixture of
saibro and pedra molle, or of the red and yellow tufa; the latter,
from its lightness and looseness would be washed away by the
rains, were it not mixed with some other soil. Equal portions of
saibro, pedra molle, and massapes, which is a clayey earth, seem
to be preferred in very dry situations, and I have seen layers of
pedra molle alone, about the roots of the vines, in unusually moist
localities r. Of course the poorer cultivators are compelled to be
content with the soil they find upon the spot, but when this
i’ The leaf of this has four very deep and rounded sinuses, with two others less
distinct ; each dentation has a small yellow tip ; the back of the leaf is as smooth as
the upper surface, and it is of a deep yellow green ; the other varieties are less
marked, but all have the same smoothness and yellow tips. It was introduced from
Candia, before 1445, by Prince Henry. Collegdo de Noticias, p. 11.
q The vine was tried in the island of St. Thomas, on the coast of Africa, before
1550; but, although two crops were produced, it did not succeed, as it was con¬
cluded, from “ the gross richness of the soil.” The figs became delicious, and
yielded two crops a year ; the melons only one ; olive, peach, almond, and other
stone-fruit trees were introduced from Spain, but although they grew beautifully, and
to a very large size, they never yielded any fruit. Navegagao de Lisboa a Ilha de
S. Thome, escrita por hum Piloto Portuguese, (in 1551.) Collegao, p. 99.
r I analyzed the saibro carefully, and found 46.8 silex ; 9.1 alumine ; 27.3 oxide of
iron, 2.7 soda ; 3.8 water ; 10.3 loss (principally vegetable matter), at a red heat in
a platina crucible. The casealha, a decomposing basaltic conglomerate (partially
deposited above the compact or columnar), is esteemed next to the saibro and pedra
molle ; this is the heaviest soil, the specific gravity being 2. 1 . The barros (a coarser
and less pure kind of clay than the massapes ), and marracote, a drier kind of barros,
are the least welcome soils a vine cultivator can find on his tract. The pedra molle
seems to contain less soda, as well as less iron, than the saibro, which is of a lower
specific gravity. Saibro, 1.75 ; pedra molle, 1.95 ; massapes , 1.99 ; araya, 1.99.
110
EXCURSIONS IN MADEIRA
happens to be massapes, they mix the araya (the volcanic cinder
before mentioned) with it, and it is considered, that the vine
endures longer in this than in any other soil. It is said to last
sixty years in it, if planted wide enough apart. The ground
being turned up, the trenches are dug from four to seven feet
deep, according to the nature of the soil, and a quantity of loose
or stony earth is placed at the bottom, to prevent the roots
reaching the stiff clayey soil beneath, which would oppose their
growth. They water the ground three times, if the summer has
been very dry, leaving the sluices open until the ground is pretty
well soaked ; the less the ground is watered, the stronger the wine,
but the quantity is diminished in proportion. Some cultivators
lay cow-dung at the roots of the vines when they plant them, and
when the wine becomes poor, mix a fresh quantity with the soil at
the surface: others consider that animal manure injures the
flavour of the grape, and sow the lupinus perennis among the
vines instead; this they do in the January of every second year,
cutting it down and burying it, by turning over the surface of the
soil, after the small rains, which prevail for about ten days at the
end of April. An English acre will produce four pipes of wine
under the most favourable circumstances ; but one pipe seems to
be the average, taking the vineyards throughout the island5. The
propagation is by cuttings, and they prefer the verdelho of the
north, when forming a plantation in the southern part of the
island, as it improves considerably from the better soil, climate,
and aspect; on this they engraft any other variety they may wish:
* The lizards devour immense quantities of grapes ; and are said to manifest a
decided preference for the tinta, but this, probably, is merely because the verdelho
grapes are not ripe so early in the season. A cultivator dares not allow his grapes to
remain on the vines after his neighbours have taken in theirs, however much he may
wish to do so ; for if he did, all the rats of the neighbourhood would adjourn to his
vineyard, and take a ruinous tithe.
AND PORTO SANTO.
Ill
the grapes yield no wine until the fourth year'. The stalks of the
arundo sagittata (the tops of which are good for feeding cattle),
are used in making frames for supporting the vines, in the
southern parts of the island, and the salix rubra for tying them
to this trellis- work. In the north part of the island the vines are
trained around the chestnut-trees, this firmer support being
necessary, as it is said, on account of the high winds prevailing
there ; but they generally neglect to cut away the branches which
prevent the sun from reaching the vine, and it evidently languishes
in the vegetable soil natural to the chestnut-tree. If a layer of
light siliceous soil, which the adjoining tufa would furnish, were
laid above the vegetable earth, both trees would flourish equally.
The vines give fruit as high as 2700 feet in Madeira, but no wine
can be made from it: the greatest height at which it is now
cultivated for this purpose, is in the valley of the Coural das
Freiras, which is 20S0 feet above the sea. There is much dispute
as to the best moment for pruning the vines; some prefer Febru¬
ary, others the middle of March ; it depends principally, however,
on their foresight as to the weather when the flowering takes
place, which is from six weeks to two months, after the pruning.
As to the treatment of the wines, I have remarked, that the
produce of one year must frequently be treated very differently from
that of another. When the grapes are green, the fermentation
must be checked ; when they are wet from unseasonable rains, it
must be assisted ; generally speaking, the riper the fruit, the more
difficult the fermentation. A very agreeable liqueur is made in
the island from the second pressure of the grape, (the first
being merely with the feet) into which an equal quantity of
brandy is immediately thrown, to stop the fermentation, and
* Miller, in his Gardener's Dictionary , tells us, that in some parts of Italy, there are
vines which have been cultivated for 300 years ; and that a vine not more than a
century old, is there called young.
112
EXCURSIONS IN MADEIRA
produce sweetness. Gypsum is pretty generally used to clarify
and mellow the wines while working, unless they happen to be of
a green vintage. The importation of foreign brandy is now
prohibited, and even that made in Portugal is subjected to a duty,
amounting to a prohibition ; it is made from the north wine, and
the lees of others. In the war time, all the houses were compelled
to ripen their wines by stoves, as they held no stocks : those who
managed this themselves, rose the heat gradually, from about 60°
to 90° ; others who trusted them to the public stoves, generally
found, that they were neglected until the last moment, and then
all but boiled u.
The wheat grown in Madeira, scarcely amounts to of the quan¬
tity annually consumed. Near the sea the lands yield annual crops \
The maximum of the proportion is fifteen to one, but the average
five to one. The zea mays is so easily procured from the neigh¬
bouring continents and islands, that no one has thought it worth
the trouble of planting for any other purpose than to look at ; but
it would succeed extremely well'. I was assured at Lisbon, that
u 22,314 pipes of wine (of which 101 went to the bishop) were made in Madeira,
in 1813.
x 77,604 English bushels of wheat, 11,616 of rye, and 12,768 of barley, were
produced in 1813. The Portuguese endeavoured to grow wheat in St. Thomas’s in
the sixteenth century, trying all the different localities and seasons successively, but
it never ripened, or produced full ears. Collegao de Noticias, p. 101. Cadamosto
writes in 1445, that Madeira produced 30,000 Venetian stajas of wheat annually,
(equal to about 1966 P. bushels of 675 cubic inches each) adding, that the soil had
at first produced sixty for one, but then only forty and thirty for one, and that it daily
deteriorated. In the higher and northern parts of the island, they get but one crop
of wheat every seven years, allowing the broom to grow uncontrolled for six, and
then burning it on the ground as manure, using no other.
y The variety most esteemed in Madeira, is the ‘ white-round,’ imported from the
Cape Verde Islands and New York, which will always fetch twenty pence a bushel
more than the ‘ yellow-flat,’ which is grown on the coast of Africa, and in the Azores.
The ‘ yellow-round ’ (imported from Philadelphia, the Azores, Genoa, and other parts
AND PORTO SANTO.
113
the zca mays is sown in the provinces immediately after the wheat
harvest in June, and is ready for taking in in October ; the same
land thus yielding a crop of each in the same year. Rice is merely
of the Mediterranean,) is considered the second best variety, and the ‘white-flat'
(from the Azores and America,) the third; and even this will fetch sixpence a
bushel more than the yellow-flat. In the Canaries the yellow-round is preferred. The
exporter may get six and a half bits tire alquiem (six shillings and fivepence the
English bushel according to the present rate of exchange) for the white-round. I
am thus particular, in the hope of inducing the cultivation of the more profitable
variety on the Gold Coast. “ Before Mr. Hope Smith’s government, the natives of
the Gold Coast scarcely grew corn enough for their own consumption ; famines
sometimes resulted from the Ashantee invasions, but as often from their own indo¬
lence — never from the unkindness of nature, who has, perhaps, been too prodigal of
her bounties for the rapid increase of African industry. The natives were persuaded
and excited to grow corn largely in the neighbourhood of Succondee and Accra, and
within the last two years, I am positively informed, by a commercial resident, at least
fourteen vessels have been laden exclusively with corn, for Madeira and the West
Indies. Several cargoes had been exported during the short period of Mr. Hope
Smith’s government which preceded my departure from Africa.” Bowdich on the
British and French Expeditions to Teembo, with Remarks on Civilization in Africa,
&c., p. 12. In Fantee, a puncheon of corn (equal to two chests) well heaped up, (so
as to give nearly a bushel in excess) costs the shipper an India Romal, worth twelve
shillings in England, or about twelve shillings and sixpence to the importer in Africa.
At Accra, it is to be purchased still cheaper. It must be understood, however, that
that is the price during the three or four months after the harvest, (in August,) when
it gradually becomes dearer. It is not considered hard enough for shipment before
October. In the time of the slave trade, the Governor of Annamaboe Fort was
obliged to send to Succondee (nearly fifty miles off) for palm oil to light the lamps :
the last Governor collected and shipped upwards of 1200 puncheons in twelve months.
It has been found very advantageous to export it into Brazil, for the sake of the
negroes alone, who cook almost every thing in it, and are as passionately attached to
it as their countrymen in Africa. " A great deal has been said of the improbability
of getting any thing but gold and ivory as a return from Africa. I submit two facts
iu reply. The palm oil trade at Calebar did not exist in the time of the slave trade ;
it was created and necessitated by the abolition. It was felt to be very laborious by
the natives at first, in comparison with the indolence of the slave trade ; but no easier
commerce could be devised, for it was the only natural product which immediately
stared them in the face. This trade grew under the care of a few persevering Liver-
Q
114
EXCURSIONS IN MADEIRA
cultivated in the gardens as an ornamental grass2. In Madeira
they sow the wheat from October, to January, taking it in in June ;
and it is followed by beans, or sweet potatoes ( convolvulus batatas ) ;
the latter of which are dug up at the end of six months, if planted
after wheat, but not until after twelve, if planted with vines : the
tops make excellent food for cattle ; horses, however, will not eat
them : they are propagated by the offsets of the tendrils. The
potato is growing into favour with the natives, and has greatly
increased the population of the interior ; they now cultivate it in
the European manner, but formerly planted the tops after clearing
away the tubercles ; seven pounds have been found to produce
pool merchants, and from eight to ten large vessels, averaging 300 tons, are now
annually laden with palm oil in the Calebar River. The people of Calebar are now
peaceable, mannerly, and hospitable, compared to what they were in the time of the
slave trade ; industry has worked off the moral virus of this traffic, and like the people
of Gaboon, whose forests of dyewood and ebony never felt the axe before the aboli¬
tion, they are much more to be believed and respected than the negroes of the Gold
Coast settlements.” Bowdich, 1. c. p. 11, 13.
z The rice from our part of the Coast of Africa, is complained of as reddish ; were
it white, it would sell here in considerable quantities, at forty reis (say twopence) a
pound, when the market was fairly stocked, and at sixty when indifferently; the
present supplies being irregular. Rice is to be bought in the proper season (October)
at Garraway’s, (in the neighbourhood of Cape Palmas) at about five pounds per ton.
I believe it is always worth thirteen pounds a ton at Sierra Leone, and I recollect to
have heard, that a cargo sent from the coast to the West Indies, arriving soon after
the hurricanes, fetched forty pounds a ton. Rice is also grown in quantities in the
interior, on the banks of the Adiree or Volta, which is navigated 150 miles in-land,
or as far as Odentee on the confines of Dagwumba, by the salt-carriers of Adda. See
Borodich's two-sheet map of Western Africa, and the accompanying Essay, p. 15.
The establishment of a fortified market on one of the islands, about 100 miles up the
Volta, would open a new and vast source of commerce, unshackled by the brokerage
and impositions of the people of the water-side ; and lead to a direct intercourse with
the commercial kingdom of Dagwumba, the grand resort of the caravans from Houssa,
Cassina, and Bornoo, and celebrated as an emporium, even on the banks of the
Mediterranean.
AND PORTO SANTO.
115
448 pounds3. Although three crops of potatoes are to be had
annually in the lower, and two in the upper parts of the island,
most of the peasantry remain obstinately attached to, and generally
cultivate (merely, as they confess, because their fathers ate it) a
species of arum, said to be the cocos of the West Indies. The leaf
answers to Persoon’s description of the arum peregrinum ; it is said
never to flower here, whether the climate is not warm enough, or
whether the mode of cultivation does not favour its fructification.
It is very abundant, and thus managed : a trench is dug and filled
with freshly-cut broom, earth is immediately strewed over it, and
in that earth is put the root, the tubercle having been taken off;
and the tops cut ; the few fibres which form the root itself being
thus left to propagate it : it requires a great deal of water. The
crops are triennial on the hills (that is about 2600 feet above the
sea), but annual in the lowest parts of the island. The leaves are
so acrid that none but pigs will touch them, and the root is kept a
long time before it is cooked. The natives call it inhame, con¬
sidering it to be a yam. A slice dried in the bath of an alembic
lost more than half its weight; and on kneading it in water I
found no gluten, but a considerable portion of amidon. The
dioscorea alata is cultivated in gardens, but the d. sativa (of
Linnaeus) is indigenous ; it is good eating, but requires many
hours boiling : it only grows on the heights behind Porto Meniz,
at the north-west point of the island, and was, until lately, only
known to a few of the poorer inhabitants. Perhaps, instead of
pronouncing it indigenous, we ought to conclude that some chance
has transported it hither. Persoon refers it to India only, and
until my arrival in Africa, I cannot ascertain if it also belongs to
* Potatoes are now cultivated within the Tropics, and in the plains of Siberia; in
Chili, at 11,000 feet above the sea; and in the Environs of Quito, almost under the
Equator, at only 1150 feet. See M. Dunal’s excellent Monograph on the Genus
Solanum.
Q 2
116
EXCURSIONS IN MADEIRA
that continent. It is an elegant plant, and would answer much
better than the arum, as all cattle will eat the herbaceous part. It
is remarked by Baron de Humboldt ( Essai Politique, &c. p. 407),
that he did not find the d. sativa of Linnaeus in South America,
and that it has not as yet been met with in the islands of the South
Sea ; and he adds, that the leaves of yams differ so much from
cultivation, that doubts may be entertained of the number of
species contained in this genus : it appears to me, however, that
the d. sativa is very distinct ; as it not only differs in leaf, but also
in its stem, which is small, delicate, and cylindrical, without a
trace of the lobes of the d. alata. The chestnut (fagus castanea )
has proved a very valuable introduction ; it forms the principal
part of the timber of the island, and of the winter food of the
peasantry. The sict/os parvijlora, cited by Persoon, as indigenous
to Surinam, and called the tchu-tchu, yields abundantly, and would
be a very valuable addition to the vegetables of the tropical parts
of the Old World, as well as to Europe.
I found the woad (isatis tinctorea), at Praya Formosa and at
Campanario. The ruivinho, generally found in the heights, is
certainly the true madder, although I could not see it in flower.
The stalk is that of the rubia tinctorum ; its leaves are rough at
the edges only, whereas those of the variety si/lvestris are rough on
both sides, and are in whorls of four and two leaves, instead of six
or seven ; neither are they linear and rough above, as in the
species angustifolia. I am thus particular, because they are culti¬
vating the wrong species near Lisbon, and are not aware that the
true one is indigenous to Madeira. The roots of the madder
should be allowed to swell in the ground for three years, and then
they will produce nearly 400 pounds to an acre, but it exhausts
the soil more than any other plant, except the indigo0. The
c The indigo thrives well in the gardens, and seems to be free from its destructive
insect.
AND PORTO SANTO.
117
peasantry gather it wild, without considering its age or size, and
dye their petticoats and cloaks with it. The turmeric ( curcuma
tonga) grows luxuriantly. I found two solitary plants of the weld
( reseda luteola ), near Camera de Lobos. A decoction of the
vinhatico berry produced a tolerable brown dye, for woollens only,
but it yielded no precipitate. Would not the berries of the
fuchsia coccinea, which is so abundant here, produce a fine dye ?
I am too late to procure any. The salsola grows more abundantly
on the Desertas than in Madeira, and is an article of commerce.
I have been somewhat puzzled with the laurels (wanting almost
entirely on the continent of Africa), which are so interesting from
their uses, their beauty, and the height at which they grow, that
I was very desirous of gaining exact information respecting them ;
but I have scarcely had one perfect flower. The lour us /ceteris, so
distinguished by its little tuft of hairs at the angle of the nerves,
could not be mistaken. The vinhatico, the wood of which is used
as mahogany, and is not unlike it in appearance, is one of the most
valuable productions of the island ; it is the laurus indica. The til
has been confounded with the l. fastens, from the strong disagree¬
able smell of its wood when first cut ; it is also valuable for its
timber, which is extremely hard and tough, and used for rafters :
it is mentioned by Baron de Humboldt under the name of laurus
til, but in looking over the last edition of Persoon’s Enchiridium.
I find that my description of the til exactly answers to that of the
l. cupular is, referred to the Mauritius'*. The only mention of a
J I suspect that the Portuguese call both the laurus fcetens and the laurus cupularis,
til ; for they say that there are two kinds of til, and that both are equally foetid.
When freshly cut or planed, it is impossible to support the odour, which is of the
most disagreeable nature. It will not bear exposure to weather. It is of a deep
brown colour, resembling walnut, but much prettier. A square prism of this wood,
twenty-four inches long and one on each side, leaving a distance of twenty-two
inches between the props of support, and suspending the weight from the centre, bore
44B pounds at the moment of its breaking ; the prism weighed thirteen ounces one
118
EXCURSIONS IN MADEIRA
laurel by Willdenow or Persoon, the oil of which serves for
burning, is the l. glanca ; but it does not answer to the characters
of the laurel used in Madeira for the same purpose, which is
much more like the l. persea, were it not for the size of the fruit,
which is that of an olive, rather than a pear ; it has a very fragrant
smell, but without a better specimen I cannot decide it ; perhaps
its umbellate bunches may refer it to the l. umbellata of Persoon.
The taxus baccata grows on the sides of the Coural, to a sufficient
size to admit of its being made into tables and chairs. The cedar
of Madeira0, is the juniperus drupacea, which had only hitherto
been found (by Labilliardiere) on Mount Cassius in Syria f. Two
pennyweight. The vinhat.irn bore 361 pounds, and weighed eight ounces : it is an
excellent substitute for mahogany. The chestnut (fagus castanea), which is always
preferred for such works as are exposed to the weather, weighed five ounces and bore
364 pounds. See an account of similar experiments on the strength of the timber
used in Bengal, in the Transactions of the American Philosophical Society, by which
it appears, that a similar prism of the soondry bore 593 pounds, and weighed fifteen
and a quarter ounces. The teak bearing 449 pounds, and weighed eleven ounces.
The same bulk of pure water, weigh 13-* . It would seem from the experiments there
recorded, as well as the three I have made, that the strength of the wood increases
with its gravity. Firs full of resin, however, such as the Baltic red fir, weighs a
fraction, and bears a few pounds less, than those (such as the Nepaul fir) which are
not. A prism of the heath ( erica arborea), which is of a yellowish rose colour, but
brittle to work, weighed fourteen ounces ; of the cactus opuntia, (which remains
flexible until dry, and then becomes brittle and shrinks up to one half of its original
dimensions) three ounces six pennyweights; of the dracaena draco, 8.96; the prism
of heath wood was cut from a trunk three and a half feet in circumference ; that of
the cactus was two and a half feet.
« Cadamosto had justly designated it as “ muito cheiroso e semelhante ao cypreste
the indigenous species of cypress is new. Cupressus Madeirensis foliis multifariam,
imbricatis, alternis, ramis pendulis, strobilis globosis, squamis, mucronatis, quadrilo-
cularis, polyspermis. Flor. ignotis.
f The Camera have, within these few years, strictly forbidden the cutting down of
the cedar- tree, having remarked, that the springs which they sheltered, disappeared,
and that in a very short time afterwards ; the physiciens of the island, still obstinately
attached to those systems which are everywhere else forgotten, insist, that these
AND PORTO SANTO.
119
varieties of the African Banana have been naturalized, but confine
themselves to the lower parts of the island; when cultivated,
however, they grow at a considerable height, and the leaves
(before they are fully developed) are now found by the coopers
to be very superior to the rushes formerly imported from Lisbon,
for the headings of the wine casks. The Guinea grass is cultivated
and thrives well ; I have not been able to find a good description
of it: therefore, after dissecting and examining a great many
locusta, I have given the results6.
To complete the idea ot that happy medium and variety of
climate, which makes Madeira preferable even to Teneriffe, for a
garden ot naturalization ; the 'phoenix dact jlif era flourishes and
bears fruit; pine-apples ( bromelia ananas ), and custard apples
( annona squamosa ), are grown in the open air; the arrow-root
( maranta indica) succeeds perfectly well, the dahlias. flourish and
produce seed, the arctotis angustifolia becomes a shrub, the camellia
japonica astonishes us as a considerable tree, the fuchsia coccinea
and the pelargonia form thick hedges many feet high, the ricinus
communis becomes a tree, the papaio ( carica papaya) and the
streams are kept up by attraction, and will not hear of the sheltering of the soil from
the powerful action of the sun, after the heavy rains, and the consequent diminution
of evaporation as an adequate explanation. The first Governor, Zarco, entailed this
inconvenience, which might have amounted to a calamity, on all future generations,
when he indiscriminately set fire to the thick woods which covered the flanks and
tops of the mountains. All the colonists, men, women, and children, were compelled
to fly into the sea to avoid its fury, where they remained two days and two nights, up
to the neck in water, and without food : it is said to have continued burning upwards
of six years. Collegao de Noticias, p. 9.
* Panicum polygamiun, (Guinea grass.) Involuc. parvum, valvis simile spathae.
Flores polygames. Gluma biflora, 2-valvis. Calyx 2-valvis ovatis, acuminatis. In
florem hermaphroditum, ovarium parvum. Styli duo, plumosi, rubri. Stamen unicum.
In florem masculum, stamina tria. Flores lax£ pamiculati. Articulationes villosae.
Folia glabra, lanceolata, acuminata.
120
EXCURSIONS IN MADEIRA
guava (psydium pyriferum ) attain a large size, and produce good
fruith, and the melia azedarach flourishes in great beauty'.
h The gooseberry bushes do not bear good fruit under a height of 2000 feet ; the
mulberries are singularly fine, and there is a standard nectarine-tree in Mr. Veitch’s
garden upwards of thirty feet high.
1 It stands the frosts of the higher parts of the island. In India, this tree is valued
for its wood, which is white and durable, and much used for household furniture.
Ainslie s Materia Medica of Hindostan. An oil may be extracted from its berry
which defies the approach of insects ; a small piece of cotton dipped in it, and tied to
the leg of a table, will even prevent the smaller reptiles, such as lizards, from coming-
near it, and the only drawback on this valuable property is its disagreeable smell.
M. Decandolle mentions, that the m. azedarach has withstood a cold of 23° Fahrenheit,
on the lake of Geneva ; there is no doubt, therefore, that so useful a tree might be
naturalized in most parts of Europe ; and its beauty and fragrant bunches of flowers
would adorn our shrubberies. The Portuguese consider the myrtle to be the hardest
wood, and there are now standing, trees of it nearly three feet in circumference. They
do not seem to be aware of the extraordinary durability of the vine, which Pliny
asserts, (1. 14. c. 1,) instancing a statue of Jupiter at Populonium, formed out of an
entire piece of that wood, which had existed many ages, and was still free from any
trace of decay. I do not think they have ever been able to cut any planks from the
vine, (although there is said to be one on the north side of the island, so large as to
produce a pipe of wine) whereas, we know that the great doors of the Cathedral of
Ravenna are made of vine wood, and that the planks are more than thirteen feet
long, and nearly one and a quarter wide. The largest tree I have seen in the island
is a swreet chestnut, tw'enty-five feet in circumference.
In 1815 the population of Madeira amounted to 90,916; it is supposed to be
upwards of 100,000 at present. It has evidently sprung from several mixed sources.
Among the Arabic documents in the Torre de Tombo, there is a letter from the
Moors of Cafy to King Manuel, dated 1509, complaining, that the new Portuguese
Governor, Diogo de Azambrya, after entering into their town, “ with a cane in his
hand, and some sweet basil in his mouth,” and giving every pledge of his future
prudence and justice, suddenly seized several Moorish and Jewish merchants, and
sold them to the brother of the Governor of Madeira, who happened to be there at the
time wflth troops. Documentos Arabicos, copiados dos Origaes da Torre de Tombo,
Lisboa, 1790, p. 1 1 — 24.
AND PORTO SANTO.
121
CHAPTER V.
\
Zoological, Meteorological, and Barometrical Observations. — Flood
of Madeira.
COULD I have afforded to have invited the fishermen and
peasantry to bring me specimens of all the fishes, birds, <fc., they
knew, or might meet with, promising a fair price, I might have
done much more for zoology in general. A traveller who has
only his own slender means to depend on for every expense of his
enterprise, can do but little for zoology ; but, even as it was, I had
frequent occasion to lament the necessity of throwing away new
and interesting objects, especially fishes, because no museum had
furnished me with spirits and cases to preserve them in. It is
not fair to impose this expense on the zeal of the traveller who
contributes his services gratuitously. I have a few more zoolo¬
gical notices to submit, however, and expect to add some new
fishes to the 2500 already known and described.
I shall endeavour to follow the ichthyological system of Cuvier,
the most natural, al though the most difficult to class byk. Dr.
Hamilton acknowledges its superiority, when he writes, if I mis¬
take not, that had he been acquainted with it, when he undertook
k “ La classe des poissons est de toutes, celle qui offre le plus de difficulties quand
on veut la subdiviser en ordres, d’apres des caracteres fixes et sensibles. Apres bein
des efforts, je me suis determine pour la distribution suivante, qui dans quelques cas
peche contre la precision, mais qui a l’avantage de ne point couper les families
naturelles.” Cuvier, Re'gne Animal, Tome II. p. 110.
R
122
EXCURSIONS IN MADEIRA
his work on the fishes of the Ganges, he should certainly have
adopted it in preference to every other. I will first notice
those which appear to be rare, or distinct from any already known,
in most instances giving the native name. The abrota, or phycis
furcatus. fig. 28, a new species of a genus of malacopterygiens
apodes '. The boga, or boops vulgaris, Cuvier ; sparus boops, Lin¬
naeus. The pequeno dourado, fig. 29, a new genus of labroides
approaching to sparusm. The marracho, a new species of serranns ".
1 Phycis furcatus, B. It has no evident teeth ; two dorsal fins, the first short, termi¬
nating in a point ; the second extending two-thirds the length of the back, and reach¬
ing almost to the caudal, which is so deeply forked as to appear separated ; the anal,
corresponding in form, length, and position to the second dorsal; the pectorals rather
small, with two barbillons beneath each, but more advanced, or nearer the branchial
rays ; all these fins are fleshy, and without distinct rays, which are represented by
mere streaks. The species I describe (which was merely sent me to look at, without
the liberty of dissecting) had a barbillon beneath the lower jaw. The head is ele¬
vated, enlarged, and without scales. Its bladder bursts immediately it is taken out of
the water, and rising into the mouth, has often been mistaken for an enormous tongue.
The body is of a silvery lead colour, inclining to brown; the gills and muzzle red; tne
iris of the eye yellow; length, 1 foot 8 inches.
m Labeo Sparo'ides, B. The pectoral fin is placed so low and distinct from the
branchiae, that it is hard to say whether it is the pectoral or the ventral which is
wanting ; the scales of the head are scarcely visible ; the dorsal and caudal fins
have the same number of rays and spines as the sparus salpa, but the anal has four¬
teen spines, and three branching rays ; the pectorals, five branching rays ; all the fins
are of a golden hue, shaded with blackish brown ; the top of the head is of a golden
green ; the body a light silver gray, with ten golden stripes, the dorsal line running
along the third ; the muzzle is silvery ; the iris is yellow, and there is a brown rim
around the eye. Labeo, the name of a fish known to the Romans.
n Serranus rufus, B. Its preoperculum is fringed rather than toothed ; it has one
sharp spine within, or towards the centre of the operculum ; the whole body is
thickly covered with small scales; the dorsal fin has ten spines and thirteen branch¬
ing rays, and is red, shaded with a greenish brown ; the caudal has nineteen branch¬
ing rays, and is entirely of a greenish brown ; the anal, two spines, and nine branch¬
ing rays, and of a reddish brown ; the ventral brown, with one spine and five branch¬
ing rays ; the pectorals red, and with sixteen rays ; the whole of the body is of
a brilliant red; length 6| inches.
/ilS* iy 22 ~2c2:<!r7>i<z*iTi /$/ . Sf7'citi<2 / 2 2-2
AND PORTO SANTO.
123
The chinchara or chixarra, fig. 27, a new species of seriola °. The
diodon tigrinus. The impcrador, which agrees with Cuvier’s brief
description of the barber , or serranus anthias, (supposed to be the
anthias of the ancients) which, however, does not notice, that the
preoperculum finely dentated above, has larger teeth below, a
character which approximates it to the genus plectropomes. It in
no respect agrees with Bonnaterre’s description, or figure of the
barber p. The garoupa, or serranus scriba. The requeime, a new
species of the scorpeena of Schneider ; it resembles the scorpeena
scrofa, but differs, from its scales being smaller, and from having
no fleshy appendices to the head or dorsal line q. The boqueirao,
fig. 26, a new species of smarisT. The spet or esox sphyreena of
0 Seriola picturata, B. It has no apparent teeth, no scales, and two detached
spines in advance of the anal fin ; the dorsal line is faint, and curved ; branched on
one side only until it arrives beneath the middle of the second dorsal fin, where it
makes a descent, and is continued in a straight line branched on both sides, and much
more pronounced ; the first dorsal fin has seven or eight rays, the second seventeen,
both are of a pale brown ; the rays of the caudal are very minute, and its colour is the
same as that of the dorsal, with a red tinge ; the anal has fifteen forked rays, and is
white ; the ventral is tinged with red, and has five branching rays ; the rays of the
pectoral are about twenty-five in number, but are two minute to reckon accurately. It
is of a light silvery green, the head of a dark green, the under jaw of a bright silvery
appearance ; the back of a dark blue green with a metallic lustre ; the belly is like the
under jaw ; the whole fish has a brilliant silvery hue. It is 6 inches long.
v It is of a brilliant rose colour, with a dash of violet; the stripes on the head and
operculum violet; the back mottled with yellow ; the fins red, mottled with yellow;
the ends of the dorsal and the middle of the caudal of a bright yellow ; there is a violet
mark round the eye. It is 7 inches long, from the lower jaw to the fork of the tail.
q Scorpeena Kuhhi , B. The dorsal fin has eleven spines and eleven rays ; the
caudal seventeen rays; the ventral six rays; the anal four rays and three spines ; the
pectoral seventeen rays. It is of a beautiful yellow red, the caudal fin deeper in
colour than the other parts ; the body has a golden hue, and is spotted with brown ;
the pectoral fins are red at the top and bottom, but yellow in the middle ; the ventral
is entirely red ; the head is shaded with brown ; the whole fish is strongly phosphores¬
cent. It is 6| inches long.
r Smarts Royerii. The upper or flat part of the head is curiously ornamented1
R 2
124
EXCURSIONS IN MADEIRA
Linnaeus 5. Besides these I had the opportunity of determining
the cori/phama novacula , mullus surmuletus, a chcetodon ‘, and a zeus,
belonging to Cuvier’s first division of that genus, but wanting the
long filaments behind the dorsal spine of the zeus faber ; and of
a brilliant red colour11. A dead flying-fish was brought to me,
which most resembled the exocetus exiliens, but differed from it in
the length of the ventral fins, which, instead of reaching to the
caudal, only extended to the middle of the anal ; the proportionate
size of the air-bladder was smaller than in other species, being
only half the length of the fish, or seven inches by 0.3 ; the
pectoral fins were 8£ inches long, and furnished with considerably
larger nerves than the ventral. The fish having been some hours
out of the water, it was impossible to determine whether there
was an orifice at the anterior termination of the air-bladder or
not x. All the fishes I have mentioned are very good eating,
Its native name denotes, that it is found in deep waters. The first dorsal has eleven
spines ; the second ten rays ; the caudal twenty-four ; the anal twelve ; the ventral six,
and one spine ; and the pectoral sixteen rays. It is of a beautiful silvery colour,
slightly tinged with a yellowish red ; on tire middle of the hack it is of a brownish
violet. Its length, with the muzzle extended, is 1\ inches.
5 Esox Sphyrcena. It is said to be eatable only in the autumn, having a coppery
taste at other seasons.
1 Chcetodon Leachii, B. It has a broad row of small teeth in the upper and under
jaw. The dorsal fin has nine spines and fifteen or sixteen rays ; the caudal seventeen ;
the anal nine, and one spine ; the ventral five rays and one spine ; the pectorals six-
teeen rays ; but all are so fleshy that it is difficult to reckon them. The preoperculum
is slightly toothed at the angle, and the operculum bears a spine. It is in every
respect coloured like a tench, with the addition of some confused light gray spots.
The scales are small, and the dorsal line is very obscure. It is called shern.
u Zeus Childrenii, B.
x The length of this fish, from the end of the jaws to the fork of the caudal fin, is
14 inches, and to the tip of the lower lobe of the same fin 2H ; the dorsal fin has
twelve rays, and is 2| inches long ; the caudal has ten distinct rays on each outer side
of the fork, and the intermediate space is filled up by a number of small fine rays ; the
anal (2| inches long) has nine rays ; the ventral (4_I inches long) has six, branching
AND PORTO SANTO.
125
except the diodon. The tunny ( scomber thy anus ) is also caught
in abundance, and has been known to weigh 300lbs. The com¬
mon eel is found in the torrents, or rivers as they are called ; and
the murana Helena, sometimes nearly three feet long, is caught in
the embouchures, but the latter, so much prized by the ancients,
who reared them for the table in ponds, is only eaten by the
poorest class. — To this list may be added soles and sardinhas.
The sepia octopodia and s. triangulata were brought to me by
the fishermen, as great curiosities. The caracca, fig. 6, a b, is
apparently a new genus of cirrhopoda, and seems to me to be the
link between balanus and coronula ; the mantle of the animal is
the same as that of the balanus, but it has ten pair of cirri, with
branchiae appending ; its shell approaches it to b. tintinnabulum.
I should propose naming it halosydna balanoideay. I also saw a
beautiful new pagurus1, and the testuda caouana, which makes
excellent soup a.
at the top ; the pectorals (8) inches long) have fifteen rays each, also branching at
the top ; its colour is a silvery gray.
y Odyss : S 404. The shells are sessile in groups, and open at the upper extremity
only, where they adhere to each other ; the longitudinal ribs are strong, and the
space between them is finely-striated across ; the opening, closed with a four-valved
operculum, is irregularly triangular; and the growth of the shell is visible within, as
are also the cells ; the testaceous plate lining the inside, only reaches half way down.
The colour is generally of a purplish white.
2 Pagurus Maculatus. It is of a reddish colour ; the tw'o first, or short articula¬
tions of the long antennae (which measure 24j inches) are prickly ; the rings of the
tail (which is not orbicular) bear white spots or streaks, which on the last ring form
a cross, terminated by a ball ; the cuirass measures 5i inches, and the tail 7 inches.
* Cuvier wrrites “ la chair est mauvaise,” but the epicures who visit Madeira, pro¬
nounce the soup made from it to be excellent. The natives do not extract a lamp oil
from it, as in the Mediterranean ; the one I measured was 18 inches long and 12 broad.
Perhaps it is a small variety of the caouana: the first, second, and fifth scales of the
middle row have the heel much stronger than the others ; the fore feet are longer, but
scarcely narrower than those behind, and it bears a strong nail on the thumb and
fore-finger of each foot. The fresh water tortoise (emyss. Brong.) of Madeira, is the
testudo scabra of Schcepfer.
126
EXCURSIONS IN MADEIRA
The mean temperature of Funchal, according to Ivirwan, is 68.9
of Fahrenheit, or 20.4 of the centigrade thermometer ; but I
am inclined to think from the eighteen years observations of
Dr. Gourlay, a resident in Madeira, that Ivirwan’s informants have
led him to rate the mean nearly three degrees of Fahrenheit too
high b, as he did that of the equator c. The difference in the
b Mean temperature of Funchal.
Of Laguna 1834 feet above the sea
but 4° nearer the Equator.
Kirwan.
Gourlay.
Bowdich.
Savignon.
January
64°. 18
61°
62° .3
55°
February
64.3
62
)•)
56
March
65.8
61
Y>
58
April
65.5
64
>>
59
May
66.53
65
>>
62
June
69.74
66
9)
65
July
73.45
73
99
69
August
75.02
73
99
71
September 75.76
72
>9
70
October
72.5
68
71.5
66
November 69.08
65
66.7
62
December
65.
64
63.8
58
Dr. Savignon, a Spanish physician resident at Laguna, adds to his MS. communication,
“ In a house about the centre of the city, the windows open, and a free current of
air constantly running.” The mean temperature of Santa Cruz, according to M. von
Buch, is 21.8 C. (71J F.) or 4.5 C., higher than that of Laguna. I should mention,
that the month of October of 1822 was said to be unusually warm in Madeira, where
I arrived on the 12th: the mean of six observations at 6 a.m., was 69 F. ; of 19 at 9
a.m., 70.5 ; of 6 at mid-day, 73 ; of 19 at 2, 73.9 ; of 18 at sunset, 71.5 ; of 4 at 1 1
p.m.,69.6; of 3 at 3 a.m., 66.1. In November, of 25 at 8 a.m., 66.9; of 18 at 2 p.m.,
67.3; of 21 at sunset, 65.8. In December, of 27 at 8 a.m., 63.6; of 28 at 2 p.m.,
64.5. In January, of 21 at 8 a.m., 61.7; of 16 at 2 p.m., 63.2; of 13 at sunset,
62.3. Baron de Humboldt has shewn, that the half sum of the temperatures at
sunrise, and 2 p.m., differs only some tenths of a degree from the exact daily mean;
and that the temperature at sun-set differs only in the same small quantity from the
mean deducted from the observations at sunrise and 2 p.m.
c Humboldt, Memoircs d’Arceuil , 5. p. 512. Much error must arise from travel¬
lers not comparing their instruments with a standard thermometer ; of five which I
bought at Pixu’s, M. Arago found but one exact, and in two I had to allow for an
error of 1°.5 R.
AND PORTO SANTO.
127
mean temperature of several years scarcely ever exceeds 1° of
F ahrenheit in Madeira ; and the difference between the means of
February and August, which may be considered as the extremes
of heat and cold, averages 10°. The mean temperature of Lisbon,
according to Lieutenant-Colonel Franzini’s observations for 1816
and 1817 d, is 60.2 and the difference between the means of
January and July, 21°.5 F. This difference in the mean tem¬
peratures of Lisbon and Madeira gives 5°.3 F. for 6° of latitude, or
9° F. for the 10° between the parallels of 30° and 40° ; being 1°.7
more than the allowance of Baron de Humboldt : but if we admit
Ivinvan’s mean temperature, this variation from Humboldt’s con¬
clusions will amount to an excess of 3°. 7 and almost equal the
difference between those parallels in the new continent.
“A Funchal la temperature des caves parait etre de 16°.2 C.
(61° F.), par consequent, de 4° C. (7°.9 F.) au dessous de la tem¬
perature de fair. Nous reviendrons dans la suite sur cette
difference remarquable entre les souterrains a l’isle de Madere et
1’ atmosphere circonvoisine e.” I think I may venture to contradict
this anomalous difference. There is not a subterraneous cellar,
or crypt, in the island : the deepest caverns, are the “ F urnaces of
St. John,” (close to Funchal on the N.W., and about 240 feet
above the sea) formed out of a deep bed of scoria. In the largest,
(128 feet to the inmost part, which is wide, spacious, and lofty, and
about fifteen feet below the level of the mouth) I made the fol¬
lowing observations : November, 4th, 1 p.m., temperature of air
7 1°. 5 ; hygrometer 51°; temperature of the inmost part of the
cavern, 67° ; hygrometer 73 g°. January 4th, 2 p.m., temperature of
air 66° ; just within the mouth, 64° ; inmost part, 63i°. Again, in
d Observagoes Meteorologica Feitas na Cidade de Lisboa, no anno de 1816 e 1817,
Offerecidas a'Reale Academia dos Scienceas, p. 123,727.
* Humboldt, Annales de Chimie, p. 602. Rel. Hist. p. 424, qto. I quote from my
MS. extracts from these expensive works, and have omitted to note the volume.
128
EXCURSIONS IN MADEIRA
the cavern at Praya Formosa, close to the sea, about three miles
west of Funchal, and upwards of thirty feet deep, I found a
difference of only 3° F. and in that of St. Roque, about 1000 feet
above the sea, north of Funchal, and nearly sixty feet deep, a
difference of only 4° F.
There is an extraordinary difference, however, between the tem¬
perature of the wells and that of the air of F unchal ; the former
(Mr. Lundie’s, Mr. Young’s, and Mr. Serle’s, all upwards of
twenty feet deep and hi the open air) being 58° when the latter
was 69° — but this is explained by recollecting, that these wells are
supplied by streams which descend from heights of 3800 feet
behind the town, where there would be a corresponding difference
in the mean temperature ; for that of the spring near the Mount
Church, (enclosed at the expense of Consul Murray) and about
1900 feet above the wells in question, was 58°, the air within
being 62°, by an observation which I made in October. The
observations on the Peak of Ruivo gave eighty-nine toizes to a
centigrade degree, for the decrease of temperature ; those on the
brink of the Coural, at the point of view from which the drawing
was made, ninety-five toises ; those at the Mount Church, ninety-
eight toises ; the two latter results are probably in excess, from
the elevations being backed by greater height, and not at all
insulated. I have calculated in toises, merely because the results
of De Humboldt’s and He Saussure’s observations are given in this
measure. When at Arieiro, a cold north wind came on to blow
suddenly, and lowered the thermometer so considerably for the
time, that I could make no conclusions ; and the locality of
Mr. Veitch’s quinta is such, from the torrents adjoining it on each
side, that it is much colder, as a particular spot, than the country
about it, and at the same height above the sea. November seems
to be the month whose mean temperature is the closest approxi¬
mation to that of the year in these regions.
AND PORTO SANTO.
129
The mean of thirty-eight observations in the month of Novem¬
ber in Funchal, 154 feet above the sea, at 8^ a.m. 2 p.m. and sun¬
set, by Leslie’s hygrometer was 3.2 ; of 41 by de Saussure’s, 65. 1 ;
of 24 observations in December, by Leslie, 3. 1 ; of 37 by De Saussure,
75.3; of 31 by De Saussure in January, 83.3. During a very
strong wind in the month of November De Saussure’s fell from
71 to 50 within five hours: its maximum of dryness during my
observations was 41° (in the morning of the 22d of November)
the thermometer being at 19 C. or 66,2 F., and a correspondent
observation with Leslie’s hygrometer giving 5.3 f. De Saussure’s
stood at 57° on the Peak of Ruivo, before the clouds had ascended,
the thermometer being at 49 F., at which time (10. a.m.) Leslie’s
descended to 2.4 at Funchal, (equal to 85° of De Saussure’s, from
a comparison of numerous coincident observations,) the ther¬
mometer being at 68|° : now if we reduce the former observation
to the same temperature as the latter, taking the results of the
experiments of De Saussure for ascertaining the weight of moisture
contained in the air at different degrees of the thermometer and
hygrometer, for the data of our calculation8, the 57° of Ruivo
becomes 46f° which gives but 162 feet to each degree for the
decrease of humidity in this region h. Snow descends in Madeira
1 Lieutenant Colonel Franzini informed me, that no hygrometrical observations had
been made in Lisbon. I made the following, during my stay therein September:
8. a.m. mean of 21, Saussure, 71.3 ; of 19, Leslie, 3.7 ; of 19, Thermometer 71. F. ;
2. p.m. mean of 19, S. 61 ; of 20, L. 6 ; of 18 Thermometer 75.6: 9. p.m. mean of
17, S. 67: of 16, L. 5.6; of 16 Thermometer 71.8. The minimum of my obser¬
vations was 23.5 S. a corresponding observation of Leslie giving 11.1 > Temperature
801, September 4th, at 2. p.m.
8 Essais sur I’Hygrometrie. Neuchatel, 1783. p. 181.
h I endeavoured to procure De Saussure’s cyanometer through professor Pictet, but
unsuccessfully, the inventor’s standard being lost ; the accurate degradation of blue
over the whole circumference of the apparatus, and the absolute similarity of the tint
or shade of a given division of the copy with that of the same number in the original,
S
130
EXCURSIONS IN MADEIRA
to 2500 feet. De Humboldt states 9800 feet, as the least height
at which snow falls in the parallel of 20° N. The first snow fell
on the 16th of December.
The mean of 42 observations at 8.5 a.m. 2 p.m. and sunset, by
Fortin’s barometer (which had been compared for several weeks,
with that in the observatory at Paris) was 767.30. of 43, in
December 764.22, of 31, in January 761.60; in a turret 154
feet above the level of the sea. As far as I could judge, from
a short series of observations during the more settled days of
October, the maximum corresponds to 8| a.m., and the minimum
to 3, p.m. in Madeira.
I do not think the mean of the annual quantity of rain which
falls at Madeira, can be far short of forty inches. I determined
the quantity which fell in January by a series of observations with
a roofed pluviometer, so as to prevent any loss by evaporation,
and it amounted to 13.2 inches. The heaviest rain was on the
24th, 0.96 of an inch in five hours’. According to Dr. Savignon,
19.33 inches, fell at Laguna in Teneriffe in 1812, and 25.22 inches
in 1813 : if this be correct, the increase from 45° N (where 24± E
inches is considered to be the mean annual quantity), to 28° N,
would seem to be in a lesser proportion than from 28° N to 19° N,
were consequently impossible, as well as indispensible conditions. But it was well
known, that the class of observations to which the instrument was destined, was not
considered by De Saussure as an important and conclusive source of atmospherical
results ; the colour and depth of the blue of the heavens being so far influenced by
the pressure of the least quantity of vesicular vapour, that nothing certain or absolute
could be concluded from its estimate, by a comparison with the slowly degrading
shades of the circular divided zone which constituted the instrument, to say nothing
of the difficulty of determining by observation, to which of its divisions the blue of
the heavens exactly corresponded.
‘31. 5 inches of rain fell in Lisbon in 1816, and 21. 4 in 1817, the palma or 8. P.
inches being equal to 8. 9 English; but 1816 was considered an extraordinary year
in this respect by the inhabitants. Franzini, b.c. p. 28, 123.
AND PORTO SANTO.
131
where 71 E inches is the computed quantity k. The rainy season
of Madeira may be said to comprehend the months of October,
November, December, and January, although the intervals of fair
weather, during the two former months, generally exceed the
periods of rain. This season is ushered in by the cessation of the
north-east breeze, frequent calms, a prevalence of westerly
k In October, 1809, there was a very disastrous flood in Madeira. There had been
no rain for several months, and the rivers or torrents were almost dry. The rain did
not begin before mid-day, continued incessantly, and at eight o’clock the torrents
came down, swept away all the bridges, hut one (on which the surveyor had built his
own house), and carried away several houses, with the inhabitants in them, vainly
imploring relief from the windows; the lower parts being full of water, it was im¬
possible to force the doors, and before ladders could be applied, the houses went to
pieces, and the unfortunate people were lost. One house was carried into the sea,
and seen there entire for some minutes, with the lights in the upper windows. Accord¬
ing to the confession-lists of the priests, not more than 300 persons were lost, but
as the principal mischief happened in a quarter of the town inhabited by sailors
(among whom were a great many foreigners, it being war time) and prostitutes,
who were never on the confession-lists, the total loss of lives must have been upwards
of 400. The streets were choked with ruins and heaps of dead oxen, sheep, and
domestic animals : the church doors were blockaded with bodies, laid there to be
owned, and accumulating as they cleared the streets ; some apparently retaining
sparks of life, but neglected and allowed to expire in the general panic and bustle.
They were all burned afterwards, and all the pitch and tar put in requisition to fumi¬
gate the streets by bonfires. It is said to have been scarcely less distressing to view
the despondence which for days pervaded almost the whole of the lower classes ;
they believed it was the end of the world, and would make no exertion, but remained
like statues until roused by the renewal of the rain, when they ran from their houses;
some rushing through the crowd with torches, others rolling over each other in the
darkness of the night, many returning in despair, unable to find a retreat. The
peasantry flocked to Funchal, thinking the calamity had been confined to the country,
and met the flying townspeople on their way. One good, however, resulted, for the
quantity of earth carried into the sea diminished the soundings and anchorage of the
harbour several fathoms. From the breaking up and transport of large pieces of
ground in the interior, it would seem, that a water-spout had burst there, caused
probably, by two contrary currents of air giving a rotatory motion to the mass of air
which separated them.
S 2
132
EXCURSIONS IN MADEIRA
winds at first, and of south and south-west, sometimes amounting
to gales, afterwards. Thus, although situated within the tem¬
perate zone, and therefore subjected to a far greater number of
perturbing causes, yet from the vicinity of Madeira to the tropic,
we are enabled to recognise the influence of the same laws which
regulate the setting in of this season in the regions of the torrid
zone. It has been submitted by one of the first authorities on
these subjects, that while the north-east breeze prevails, it prevents
the air, which reposes on the equinoctial seas and regions, from
being saturated with humidity ; the ascending current of heated
and humid air being regularly replaced below, by dryer and cooler
currents, from the north : but when this breeze ceases, the
columns of air are no longer displaced or renewed, and, conse¬
quently, the humidity is accumulated to saturation. The north¬
east breeze being created by the difference of temperature between
adjoining regions, abates of course in proportion as that difference
of temperature diminishes : now the month in which the tempera¬
ture of Madeira differs least from that of the region or band of 50 J
N, is September, at the end of which the first rains and westerly
winds generally occur. It does not appear to me, however, that
the rainy season of the northern equinoctial regions ought to occur
at the time of the sun’s passing the zenith of the different places,
as De Humboldt considers ; for surely there will be the least
difference between the temperature of the northern and the equa¬
torial regions when the sun is nearest to the former, and the most
distant in northern declination from the latter. Accordingly,
we find that the rains commence at Cape Coast, and Sierra Leone,
not in the beginning of April or September, when the sun passes
the zenith of these places, but towards the end of June, when it
has reached the northern tropic. Being but 150 feet above the
sea, when I made my observations, the lower regions of the air
were so slightly charged with electricity, that I could not discover
AND PORTO SANTO.
133
any sensible quantity, although I frequently tried, (soon after sun¬
rise as well as at less favourable hours) until January, when during
a violent storm from the north-west, the straws of Volta's electro¬
meter (armed with a conductor of thirteen inches), diverged 1.5
lines with negative electricity. Before this, I had frequently
tried with a small condensator adapted to the instrument, but not
successfully.
The Sirocco is experienced here in a slight degree, and always
arrives from the eastward. From Cape Verde to Cape Palmas,
its direction, under the name of Harmattan, is north east ; but
from the latter place to Benin, E.N.E. In Egypt, it is called
Kamsin, and blows from the S.S.W. The dim troubled ap¬
pearance of the sun and sky, the fine dust pervading the air,
the dryness of the skin (especially that of the lips and nose,
as if affected by a severe cold), the curling up of books, and
papers, and the wide gaping of the seams of all boarded floors, are
the attendant circumstances both of the Harmattan and Kamsin ;
but I never heard of people dying from the effects of the former,
that is, from a difficulty of respiration, attended by convulsions,
and the rushing of the blood to the head, followed by bleeding at
the mouth and nose after death, as M. Volney witnessed during
the Kamsin1. On the contrary, our invalids always became con¬
valescent, and there are most extraordinary instances on record at
Cape Coast Castle, of Europeans who lay at the point of death,
being gradually resuscitated by the setting in of a Harmattan.
The natives look and feel very uncomfortable whilst it lasts, which
is generally about three days, but I do not recollect that they are
particularly anxious to avoid stirring out, as in Egypt, where they
even shelter themselves in the wells, according to Volney : neither
do I recollect that dead bodies swell, become blue, and are easily
torn, as he describes. I remember to have heard on good autho¬
rity, that 300 slaves were inoculated for the small pox, by the
1 Etat Physique de l' Egypte, p. 50.
134-
EXCURSIONS IN MADEIRA
surgeon of a ship at Whydah, during the Harmattan, without a
single individual taking it, although they all sickened of it when
the inoculation was repeated on the cessation of this wind. The
Kamsin is called the “ hot wind” in Egypt, and in Madeira (where
it is called the Sirocco by the British, and Leste by the Portu¬
guese) it sometimes raises the thermometer to 90° in the shade; but
on the Gold Coast, if I recollect right, it lowers the thermometer
from 5 to 10 degrees. The easterly current from Cape Palmas is
always reversed during the Harmattan, and I have known a vessel
run up from Cape Coast to Sierra Leone in five days, by taking-
advantage of this circumstance ; it generally takes from three
weeks to a month to beat up there. I feel impatient for the
opportunity of making some hygrometrical observations during
the Harmattan, and propose to ascertain the positive quantity of
humidity contained in the air at that time, by means of a doubly-
graduated tube and a trough of mercury, allowing a small quantity
of air to enter at the tube, after the mercury within it has been
gradually raised to ebullition, noticing the quantity of air by the
great scale of the tube, and the height of the mercury by the lesser,
observing the barometer and thermometer, calculating the volume
of air contained ; afterwards introducing a drop of water to
saturate it, calculating its volume at the temperature of the
atmosphere, and with it, that of the air perfectly dry, deducting it
from the volume found in the first instance, and calculating the
weight of moisture contained in the residue. This strikes me to
o
be the surest method, when the occasion is too interesting to
depend on the mere comparative indication of hygrometers.
The insufficiency of my means would have entirely deprived me
of instruments for the more interesting magnetic observations'",
m La physique y pourra enfin obtenir aussi les lois de la distribution du magnetisme
terrestre, dont, partout l’interieur de l’Afrique, on n’a pas la moindre notion ; elle y
trouvera encore des donnees met6orologiques d’un intent extreme. — Biot (Review of
the Mission to Ashantee), Journal des Savans, A out.
AND PORTO SANTO.
135
being the most expensive of any", had not M. Arago kindly
presented me with the simple apparatus which he used at
Dunkirk ; viz., a needle with an ivory scale affixed to the end
of it, covered by a glazed box, to prevent its being agitated by
any current of air, and suspended carefully by a piece of fine silk,
free from torsion, and descending through a hollow piece of cane,
with a microscope with intersecting wires for the reading of the
finely-graduated scale. The observations may be calculated, when
necessary to compare them with those of any other instrument,
by noting, that the distance from the point of suspension to the
scale is 12.95 centimetres, and that each line of the scale is equal
to 0.25 of a millimetre : for, by dividing the former quantity by
that of the daily movement, the quotient will be the tangent of
the daily variation in minutes. The results of my observations0 at
Madeira are, that the greatest variation is at 8 a.m. and the least
at 2 p.m. ; and that the variation decreases with the temperature,
being least in the coldest season. I hope to make a more regular
series of observations and under more favourable circumstances atp
10 Gambey, who furnished Mr. Ritchie’s, asked me from 1500 to 2000 francs.
“ Movement from 8 a.m., to 2 p.m., to 6 p.m., from 6 p.m., to 8 a.m.
October 22 — 23
lints
1.83 west
lines
.9
east
lines
.1 east
23
.9 „
.5
?>
24—25
1.08 „
.75
yy
•4 „
25
.8 „
.5
yy
26—27
.4
yy
.9 „
27
1.3 „
1.2
yy
from t
i a.m.,
i to 2 p.m. <
October 28th, If W. 29th, 1
£ W.
30th,
4 w.
If W.
November 1, l£ W. 4th, 4 W. 6th,
1 W.
13th,
1 W.
14th,
15th,
£ W.
16th, £ W.
18th, 4 W. 19th, 1| W.
20th,
4 w
. 21st,
22nd,
i w.
25th, i W.
26th, £ W. 27th, £ VV.
December 5th, £ \V. 6th
7th, £
W.
14th, 1 W.
16th, £ W. 17th, f W.
20th,
1 W.
28th,
f W.
31st,
W.
W.
1
5
1
2
, i W.
p 1701 Coetlogon, 4° W. 1720 Laval, 8° 15' W. 1758 Howe, 15° 12' W.
Bishop, 16° W. 1769 Fleurieu, 15° W. H. M. S. Lowestoff, 16° 30' W.
Johnston, 18 W.
1761
1788
13G
EXCURSIONS IN MADEIRA
Cape Coast or Sierra Leone. I made the variation 22° 17' W.
I could only afford to furnish myself with Kater’s pocket azimuth
compass for this observation, but I took the precaution to deter¬
mine its error (2°) at the observatory. The azimuth circle at the
foot of my reflecting circle, having a nonius by which it may be
read within a minute, I preferred bringing down and determining
the distance of the sun from any remarkable object in the horizon
at each observation, and bearing that object leisurely afterwards,
to bearing the sun itself at each observation, having no assistant,
and the compass being graduated only to degrees.
I had the reflecting circle made, to use occasionally on a foot,
like a repeating circle with a moveable level, to obviate the
inconvenience of being unable to take meridian, or indeed double
altitudes of the sun, with an instrument of reflection in those
parts of the interior of Africa approaching the equator, since in
using the artificial horizon, the sextant will not measure an
altitude exceeding 60°. It is rather hard upon a traveller to be
obliged to keep awake to watch the culmination of a star, after
being worn out by a hard day's march. Baron de Humboldt
proposes placing the index glass at an angle, say 30°, to the false
horizon glass'5, which I have done to an old wooden sextant which
I keep in reserve ; but I do not see how it is to be rectified from
time to time in a close inland country, where the whole circle of
the horizon is rarely visible, unless by another instrument.
Mr. Beauchamps r submits the plan of inclining a glass 45°, on the
artificial horizon, which would enable the observer to measure the
greatest possible attitude, but I confess I do not immediately see
how the angle of inclination could be verified from time to time
with facility; and it must always be recollected that measuring
the meridian or correspondent altitude of a star by means of an
q Voyage Partie Astronomique, 2 vol. 4to. vol. I. p. 9.
r Memoires sur P Egypt, t. II. p. 109.
AND PORTO SANTO.
137
artificial horizon, can never be a very nice observation, unless a
man be blessed with the tact of De Humboldt. The difficulty of
not seeing the hairs of the telescope of the circle when a star was
brought within the field, and the inconvenience of affixing a lamp,
is remedied by making the horizontal hair sufficiently thick to
eclipse the star when brought behind it. This instrument, and
a telescope for eclipses and occultations, I am proud to say, I owe
to the generous interest of my friends in the University of Cam¬
bridge. I made the Consul’s house in Funchal 32° 38' 22" N. and
16° 53' 34" W. by the mean of several lunar distances. Unfortu¬
nately I could not afford a chronometer, but this inconvenience
may in some degree be obviated at the expense of time and labour,
as I hope to prove in my next publication. It is but prudent,
however, to wish, and endeavour to be as sparing as possible of
both, when travelling in the interior of Africa. “Lorsqu’un
gouvernement ordonne une de ces expeditions qui contribuent a
la connaissance exacte du globe, et a l’avancement des sciences
physiques, rien ne s’oppose a l’execution de ses desseins. 11 n’en
est pas de meme, lorsqu’un simple particular entreprend a ses frais,
un voyage dans l’interieur d’un continent5.”
! De Humboldt, Voyage, vol. ], 8vo. p. 63, 64.
T
r
l-i9
SUPPLEMENT.
HAVING unexpectedly procured a letter to the Vicar of
Canical, about fifteen miles from Funchal, and the last village
towards the eastern end of the island, from which it is not much
more than three miles distant, I hastened to explore its eastern
environs. I quitted F unchal at half past three in the morning, but
did not arrive at Canical until mid-day, having been detained at
Macliico. It is a small and scattered assemblage of miserable
huts, like a Hottentot kraal, into which the inhabitants seem to
creep for shelter rather than comfort. I surprised the good
vicar intent on his only book, the Filosofia moral, in a small but
dry room, tacked on to the church, and reached by a flight of
steps, as if it were the belfry. He received me very kindly,
covered his little table with excellent bread and cheese, wines, and
marmalade, and ordered an intelligent, active lad to accompany
me in my ramble towards Porto Louren^o.
We had followed a rough track, on the margin of shallow cliffs
of alternations of tufa and basalt, for about a mile and a half, when
we reached a depression, more like a basin than a plain, covered
with a deep bed of loose and agglutinated sand. These sands
have in some degree been fixed or bound by the numerous bran¬
ches of forest-trees which they have enveloped, for these branches
(which have preserved their lateral twigs) are so numerous, that
T 2
140
EXCURSIONS IN MADEIRA
they are spread over the surface, like a network of stoloniferous
roots. It is scarcely possible to set the foot on the ground
without treading on them. Both the branches and the trunks
(which stand on their roots in their natural position) are encased
in a thick, hard sheath of agglutinated sand, which has followed
the external configuration of the wood, like a cast. In some
instances the wood has entirely perished, and the envelopes are
found void like tubes, but most frequently the wood is found
within, as a distinct mass, and has become sufficiently siliceous to
scratch arragonite. V. fig. 30 and 31. The tallest fragments of trunks
reach about a foot above the surface of the sand; how far beneath it I
cannot say : there were two of these as thick as my body. Some¬
times imbedded in the envelopes of the wood, but generally in the
looser sand of the surface, were innumerable fossil-shells, inter¬
mingled promiscuously; two species terrestrial, the third belonging
to a marine genus.
The delphinula , fig. 33 a, b, approaches the d. sulcata of Lamarck,
only known in the fossil state, and found at Grignon. Both
helices belong to the group lamellatce of De Ferrussac’s sub-genus
helicostyla. The smaller species, fig. 32, is globose ; but the larger,
fig. 34, a,b,c, (which is one inch and a quarter in its greatest
diameter, and TVths deep) has the last whorl compressed, or
flattened. There are several helices still smaller than the former,
with the umbilicus exposed; but this is merely because the
plate which covers the columella is not entirely developed, and
I have not the least doubt of their being young shells of the
first-mentioned species. These shells are perfectly distinct from
the existing helices of Madeira, which I have already figured
or described, and there is not one to be found in this neigh¬
bourhood. All the branches and wood appear to belong to the
same sort of tree (of which there seems to have been a small forest
on that spot), and that evidently a dicotyledon, but more than this
S. /?ctf>rfu •/. <&/ . Y /<r/A
T/x h&J by CJSUbHjOrulcZ
AND PORTO SANTO.
141
I do not think our present knowledge of the comparative anatomy
of timbers is sufficiently advanced to determine *. The sand is
calcareous, whether from the destruction of fragments of the
transition limestone (found beneath the basalt at St. Vicente) in
the bed of the ocean, or from comminuted shells, I will not venture
to pronounce, although I incline to the former opinion. The
carbonate of lime in the sheaths or envelopes of the wood, bears a
greater proportion to the silex than in our common mortar, than
which their substance is much harder ; for estimating it by the
difference of weight after the escape of the gas, it amounted to 43
per cent. There is much ferruginous sand, mixed with that thus
thrown up, resulting from the destruction of the masses of red tufa
constantly falling from the cliffs into the sea. On the western
limit of this local deposit, are large globules of basalt (which from
their concentric form and other appearances have evidently been
in a fluid state), laying loose upon the soil, from the tufa (in which
they are still found imbedded at greater heights) having been
washed away from them. On such a soil the vegetation must be
wretched ; a mesembryanthemum and an orobus were the only
plants that existed, or rather languished there.
Having described this locality to the best of my ability, I leave
abler geologists to draw the conclusions ; but perhaps I may be
allowed to submit: — First, that it has evidently been an irruption
of the sea, from the heaps of terrestrial shells mingled with the
marine, and from the trees being found standing on their roots,
and not deposited promiscuously in detached fragments, or flat¬
tened, as they would be, had they been transported thither, or
had they been subjected to any pressure of a superincumbent
stratum, afterwards removed. Secondly, it is clear that this must
have happened after the Atlantic had lost that considerably higher
* Specimens of these lignites have been sent to the Geological Society.
14-2
EXCURSIONS IN MADEIRA
level which the oysters, and marine shells, found 300 miles inland
in the blue mountains of America, would seem to indicate ; for the
deposit (extending about three-quarters of a mile in each direc¬
tion) is bounded by hills and small peaks, rising several hundred
feet above it, composed of the same tufa on which the sand and
shells are deposited, and in the soil of which this small forest must
have been growing, thus ; which peaks and elevations present
no traces of sand on their surface, or elsewhere, above the highest
level of that in the flat, i. e., above 250 feet or thereabouts. Seek¬
ing for that explanation which rests on the fewest and the
simplest causes, it occurred to me, when I first reached this bed of
sand, (which was on the southern side, where it is level with the
water’s edge) that there might have been no irruption or elevation
of the level of the sea, but a subsidence of the tufa strata (like
that of the shores of Alexandria, which, according to Dolornieu are
a foot lower than they were in the time of the Ptolemies), the
natural consequence of gravity, or one of those slips so frequently
evident along the coast, which led to a deposit of calcareous sand
on the border of the sea, — which sand, from its extremely fine
grain, was readily dispersed by the winds, until it reached the
north side of the island (for it is barely three-quarters of a mile
broad on this part), where the drift line of the sand, with the tufa
on which it rests, is about fifty feet above the sea. But then,
should we find the marine shells in such heaps at the height of
250 feet ? — would the sand have been so firmly agglutinated, as it
is in the indurated sheaths which envelope the trunks and bran¬
ches of the trees?— and could there be a regular, or dip line
AND PORTO SANTO.
143
descending S. 30. E.? I cannot help thinking, that there must have
been an irruption of the sea from the northward, covering both this
small flat, and that already described in Porto Santo, (where a
marine shell, an ampullina11, is also intermixed with the helices )
and depositing the bed of sand on both. However, I have
performed the most important part of my duty by particularizing
the fact as well as I am able, and will therefore say no more. The
high cliffs on the north side of this part of the island, behind
Canipal, are broken off abruptly in their whole depth tow ards the
sea, and present numerous dip lines of strata, deeply inclined to
the southward, from these broken faces ; thus, as if a considerable
part of the island had been broken off or worn away on that side,
wiiich wrould also seem to have been formed from a crater now-
lost in the ocean, to the northward.
I took leave of the worthy vicar with some regret, his reception
had been so cordial, and his manners were so frank, and his
hospitality so cheerful. It is painful, after being surprised by
meeting an agreeable or estimable character in a barren and almost
uninhabited corner of the world, to leave him without some proof
of respect, and without the smallest chance of future intercourse.
He had been twenty-three years in this miserable spot, without
preferment, or recompense beyond his own conscience, and still
remained without the hope or prospect of either.
“ In addition to the fossil shells, which I found in the limestone at Baxo, I have
now to mention the mould of a spondylus, and the upper valve of a lima.
144
EXCURSIONS IN MADEIRA
Between Canifal and Machico are frequent vertical surfaces of
alternations of tufa and basalt, from 300 to 500 feet high, and
ribbed by longitudinal dikes, sometimes bifurcated downwards,
but never upwards. Close to the little bay of Machico there
is a grand slip from the eastward of 45°. I had been compelled to
put into Machico in my way to Canifal, to see the Portuguese
gentleman who gave me the letter to the vicar. He was
evidently the chief proprietor, as well as the chief magistrate of
the place, and seemed to live in a sort of slovenly plentifulness.
His house was comfortable, and the room I saw tolerably clean ;
but in the passage or small hall, there was a handsome lamp,
(certainly the only one out of Funchal) the glass covered within
with accumulated stalactites of grease, and a miserable tallow-can¬
dle, about the size of a rush-light, half burnt, and leaning out of
the socket against the glass. A good humoured, but dirty female
servant, of square dimensions, received me without stays or hand¬
kerchief, her brawny brown back crossed by the strings, but not
covered by the body of her gown; and the valet, an old dwarf,
followed wherever he went by two or three mongrel puppies,
waited on us without shirt or shoes, leaving his blue cloth jacket
half open for coolness’ sake. The master (who seemed an excel¬
lent tempered man, and who decided lots of disputes and com¬
plaints during the two hours of my stay, his door being actually
besieged by petitioners) pressed me to stay to breakfast in so
obliging a manner that I could not refuse, and after an hour’s
preparation, I was regaled with excellent green tea, hung beef,
fresh eggs, bread and butter, and Lisbon sweet cakes and biscuits
in a fossil state. As I sat at the window during the din of prepa¬
ration, “ sighing my soul out to Canical,” where I feared to arrive
too late in the day, and contemplating the picturesque peaks
which frown upon the burial-place of the unfortunate Anna, I
» III
ivxiivo
ToTTinhas
Canaxios
SicLrao
l’.<
Canaxios Rai xy o
Torruxkas
S i dx ao
dd' s.2i<m-chck laky -
AND PORTO SANTO.
145
could not help regretting, that the poet had chosen the pine to
wave over her tomb x, for although now
“ Tiene il cipresso qualche uccel’ secreto ;
E con venti combatte il pin robusto y
yet the latter is not indigenous to Madeira, and has even been
introduced within the memory of persons now living.
I made a second excursion to Pico Ariero, and sketched the
extraordinary view, of which I could not get even a glimpse in my
first visit. I did this, not merely from its picturesque nature, but
to furnish the geologist with the outline which characterizes
these peaks of basalt and tufa, and to record the names of the
peaks for future travellers, PL. 8 A. I have also added another
sketch, PL. 8 B, which I made at the point where we begin the
descent into the Coural (when visited from the Jardin da Serra),
for the same reasons. The deeply-inclined ledges of the highest
part of Sidrao (which is composed of red tufa with dykes) have
a very extraordinary appearance. It bears W. 34° S., Ruivo
W. 2° S., and the highest point of the Torrinhas, W. 11° N.,
variation allowed. I descended from Ariero about fifty feet below,
and about 1450 feet south of the summit, to get a reflection
of the Torrinhas in the artificial horizon, and in so doing shut out
the two highest points ; the third highest subtended an angle of
2° 21', which, the horizontal distance from Ariero to the Torrinhas
being 750 P. bra^as, or 5490 E. feet, gives about 5670 feet for the
height above the sea. The horizontal distance from Ariero
to Ruivo is 8166 feet. The highest point of Sidrao must be
x But Angels, as the high pines wave,
Their half heard “ miserere” sing-.
©
Bowles’ Spirit of Discovery, p. 15b.
3 Poesie di Lorenzo de Medici.
U
146
EXCURSIONS IN MADEIRA
about 5500 feet. I used a pocket sextant of Carey’s, which reads
only to two minutes. I was disappointed in repeating my baro¬
metrical measurement of Ariero, having rode a kicking mule
there, and the small end of the tube being broken in consequence.
I am sure, however, it must be quite as high as I made it before,
5446 feet. The Ice-house Peak must also be within 100 feet as
high. It subtends an angle of 10°. 41'. 45" from a room about
150 feet above the sea, in Mr. Keir’s house at Funchal, from which
it bears N. 11°. W. Ariero bears about N. 12°. W., from the
ice-house peak, and the horizontal distance between the two is
only 4240 feet.
My companion to Ariero, Mr. Dunn, having formed a walking
party with two other residents to Pico Ruivo, I put a new tube
to my barometer, boiling the mercury both in the small glass
retort and in the tube, according to the lessons old Fortin gave
me, and finding it accord with its former elevations at the different
hours of the day in the same room, and under the same meteo¬
rological circumstances, I confided it to the above-mentioned
gentleman, with the necessary instructions, and he made an
observation on Ruivo, which, with the accompanying one at
Funchal with a barometer recommended me by Baron de Hum¬
boldt, gave 6118 for its height, or 46 feet less than mine. Using
the crystal horizon, spirit level, and proof telescope on the Pico
Ruivo, the thread of the latter cuts the heavens in every direction,
without the intervention of any other peak, and the Torrinhas,
bearing east, which Von Buch made 5857 feet by barometrical
measurement, is only 3772 feet distant horizontally from Ruivo.
I have every reason therefore to feel some confidence in my
barometrical measurement of the latter, the heights ascribed to
which have varied strangely, and are as follows :
AND PORTO SANTO.
147
Gourlay 2
8250
50681
5162
5438
6164
Encyclopedia0
Smith b . .
Sabine c .
Bowdich .
I am told that Lieutenant Vidal, of the Leven surveying ship,
made it either 5964 or 5946 feet above the Consul’s garden, which
would make it more than 6000 feet above the sea, and that Mr.
Johnstone, who published the map of Madeira, made it about 6000
also: Dr. Heberden merely says, that it is 3170 feet above the
plain which environs its based. The highest point of Madeira is
so rarely seen by vessels at sea, that those not touching at the
island could seldom avail themselves of the exact knowledge of its
height for the correction of their longitude; and a more serious
error to them, in frequently making but the east or west point of
the island, is the erroneous length which has been ascribed to it.
In the 7th, and I presume the last edition of Guthrie’s geography,
2 Observations on the Natural History, Climate, and Diseases of Madeira, London,
181 1, p. 6. The Doctor’s knowledge of Natural History, which has not enabled him
to determine a single rock, mineral, bird, fish, or plant, in this then wholly unex¬
amined island, is confined to such remarks as “ mutton is not so much cultivated
here as it ought,” p. 24, and the like. The Doctor, however, has given a very patient
and useful meteorological register (continued for eighteen years), which his editor
ought not to have taken the liberty to crop short. Dr. Pitta ( Account of the Island
of Madeira, London, 1812), who, for so amiable a man, dwells rather ill-naturedly I
think on Dr. Gourlay’s, or rather Dr. Gourlay’s printer’s inadvertence, “ I prescribed
for a raw lizard every morning,” tells us p. 78, “ of shell fish, the lobster, crab
periwinkle, shrimp, and lamprey, abound here,” but then to be sure he does not
promise Natural History in his title page.
1 1 have omitted to note, but I am pretty sure it was the Encyc. Londinensis, from
which I extracted this height before I left Europe.
b Tour of the Continent, vol. 1, p. 200. Irish Transactions, vol. 8, p. 124.
c An Account of a Barometrical Measurement of the Height of the Pico Ruivo, by
Captain Sabine. Journal of Science, No. 29.
d Humboldt’s Voyage, 8,-c. 1. 1, c. 1. Cook’s First Voyage, t. 1, p.272.
U 2
148
EXCURSIONS IN MADEIRA
published in 181 1 e, we are told, that Madeira is 75 miles long, and
60 broad ; now the extreme length, as I have shewn from Colonel
Paulo d’ Almeida’s survey, is only 32 f G. miles, and the greatest
breadth 12.1. I have taken as much pains as possible to ascertain
the latitude and longitude of the eastern and western points, by
combining the best existing data, and I make the former,
P. Lourenpo, 32° 43' 30" N., 16° 39' 22" W. ; and the latter, P. de
Pargo, 32° 50' N., and 17° 22' W.f
I have determined five more indigenous, and two more culti¬
vated plants, to add to the sketch of a Flora in the Appendix.
Of the former, the asclepias fruticosa is found in different parts of
the island, the senecio trifiorus towards the bottom of the Coural,
the sedum divaricatum, stachys scordioidis and an orchis (an ib erica?)
in the laurel region of the ascent to Ruivo. The latter are the
momordica balsamina in the garden of Mr. Keir, and the beautiful
inga obtusifolia (first found in Cumana, by De Humboldt and
Bonpland), in that of Mr. Wardrop.
All the branches of several orange-trees at the Valle villa, near
F unchal, having unaccountably perished, they were cut down, and a
section of one being accidentally made at the very line which
separated the healthy from the diseased part of the tree, a worm
was found near the centre, lodged within a perforation (li inches
long, | inch wide, and 2 in depth, narrowing inwards), which
it was occupied in enlarging by means of its powerful jaws (the
working of which produced an irregular noise equal to the ticking
c London, 4to. p. 841. — Gourlay writes, p. 5, “ its greatest length from east to west
is 45 miles Pitta, p. 10, 55 miles.
f Since the sending home of the manuscript of this work, Mr. Bowdich, who never
lost any opportunity of pursuing his scientific observations, was enabled, with great
labour, to effect a trigonometrical measurement of Ruivo, &c., which has been published
in Brewster’s Scientific Journal. Ed.
AND PORTO SANTO.
149
of a large clock), devouring the wood, and clogging up the aperture
behind it with compressed saw-dust. My friend Dr. Heineken,
thinking I should like to examine this worm, Colonel Gordon very
politely sent it me in the wood. In one instance, just below
where it was pursuing its circuitous course, there was a green
healthy sprout ; wliilst all those above it were dead.
The following description will prove, that it forms a new genus
of the second family of the third order of Cuvier’s class, annelides,
and its discovery is the more interesting, from the circumstance of
the lumbricus terrestris having been hitherto the only known
animal of the whole class that did not live in water. There being
already a genus of insects named xi/lophagus by F abricius, I would
propose calling it xyleborusg citri.
Blood red ; nerves radiating in fibres ; body composed of thir¬
teen rings or segments, united by flexible membranes; the segment
nearest the mouth cartilaginous, the next four square, the rest
round ; jaws thick and forcible (protected by fleshy processes, one
above, three below, and one on each side in the form of a fleshy
spine), attached to a collar of six pieces, apparently for their
support and movement; a small spine on each side of the upper
part of each of the four first rings; without feet or moveable
hairs; breathing by the pores of the skin; the intestine longer
than the body, and forming a fold before it reaches the anus, as
in the genus thalassemo; white; \ an inch long, diameter of the
first ring |, the others decreasing gradually until the body ter¬
minates almost in a point. Vide fig. 35, a and b.
If Homer’s beautiful description of the Phoeacian Isle, where
fruit succeeded fruit, and flower followed flower, in rich and
endless variety, be applicable to any modern one, it is to Madeira.
s H uXnfioqis qui lignum exedit aut vorat ut vermes.
150
EXCURSIONS IN MADEIRA, $c.
I would beg the reader, as he shuts my book, to refer to those
sixteen lines h, for they convey a better idea of its blessings in this
respect, than I have done in as many pages'.
b OSvGG'.rn* 112 — 128.
* I have just learned, from the best Portuguese authority, that, by the census lately
made, the inhabitants amount to 98,000 and a fraction; that of 1813, as I have
already submitted, gave 90,916 ; so that the increase in ten years is fourteen pei cent,
or the same as that of Great Britain in the ten years between 1801 and 1811.
BOTANICAL APPENDIX
LIST OF PLANTS FOUND IN MADEIRA.
LIST OF PLANTS
153
X
154
LIST OF PLANTS
LIST OF PLANTS
155
X 2
156
LIST OF PLANTS
LIST OF PLANTS
157
158
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Rosacea — continued. , .< . „ Rosacece ■
LIST OF PLANTS
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The Begonia has been considered by M. de Jussieu, since he published hi8 Genera Plantarum, as the type of a new family, but 1 do not exactly know its place amongst the natural orders.
-HL
LIST OF INSECTS FOUND IN MADEIRA.
1. Theridium — Walckencer. Sp. unknown. Vide fig. 24.
2. Thomisus — a species analagous to the Aranea Venatoria of Linnceus , to the T. Can-
ceridus of Walckencer , and the T. Leucosia of Fahricius. It also bears much
affinity to a species of Selenops from Senegal.
3. Thomisus ? vid. fig. 23.
4. A species of Polydesmus, very near to the Julus Complanatus of Fahricius.
5. Ricinus — vid. fig. 22, a and b.
0. Locusta — a species apparently near to the Locusta falx of Fahricius, also from
Madeira.
7. Locusta albifrons, vid. fig. 21, a and b.
8. A species of Acheta, very near to the Morio of Fahricius.
9. Acheta — apparently the A-domestica. Fab.
10. Gryllus — Lin. Acrydium. Geoffroi.
11. JEslma — approaching to theiEshna grandis, Fab., and greatly resembling the species
figured by Rcesel, tom. 2. insect, aquat. tab. 2, fig. X.
12. Apis mellifica. Lin.
Z
-
.
.
-
NARRATIV E.
NARRATIVE.
CHAPTER I.
Arrival of the Governor at Funchal. — The Proceedings of the New
Poicers. — Departure from Madeira. — Teller iff e. — Arrival at
Bona Vista. — Senhor Martins’ House. — Governor and Family.
— Society. — Manners. — Prisoners from St. Jago. — Going to
Mass. — Arrival of Despatches from Lisbon. — St. Antonio. —
Departure for the River Gambia. — Character of the Owner of
the Schooner. — St. Jago. — Arrival at Bathurst. — Mr. Bowdich’s
Illness and Death.
I FEEL so great a repugnance to appear before the public, and
so great a distaste to those subjects in which I have lost my guide
and instructor, that the present narrative will labour under many
disadvantages, besides those which may arise from incapability.
It is but justice, however, to those who felt interested for
Mr. Bowdich in his public character, without any dearer tie of
friendship, and to those who make the cause of science their own,
to relate the circumstances of his last voyage, with their fatal
result.
I particularly lament, that, contrary to his usual custom, his
notes were very few’, and those so obscurely written, that even I,
m
NARRATIVE.
who am so accustomed to decipher his memoranda, can derive but
little assistance from them : therefore, that I may not injure a
reputation which stood so fair with the learned and the good,
I must request my readers to consider me as responsible for every
error.
We did not quit Madeira, till we had witnessed the deposition
of the Constitutional Governor, and the arrival of the Marquis de
Portogallo in his place3. Notwithstanding many important affairs
of my own to attend to, and the few charms that politics possess
for a female, I could not but be struck, when in Lisbon, with the
unfitness of the people to receive the blessing for which they had
contended. The reception given to the new Governor was a
second proof, that these poor people were then unable to appre¬
ciate the liberty which secured them to their families, and gave
them a right to think and act for themselves. The peasantry of
Madeira, always influenced by their priests, had been taught by
them to consider the constitution as an offence against the Divine
will, and therefore gladly returned to bondage and the Inqui¬
sition. Reports (originating in a barber, I believe) had been
transmitted to Lisbon, that the city of Funchal was in open
rebellion against the new order of things, and about to declare
itself, either for the Emperor of the Brazils, or totally indepen¬
dent ; accordingly, troops and artillery were sent to quell the
supposed warfare, and unlimited commissions, and a gallows,
given to three judges, to condemn and punish as they pleased.
However, to the great astonishment of the royal party, all
Madeira hailed the new arrivals with demonstrations of pleasure.
The lower classes were riotous only in rejoicing ; the ecclesiastics
* As this narrative was written during my last voyage from Africa, I could not be
aware of the several changes that have taken place in the Portuguese Government,
since the period of our departure from Madeira, but I do not erase these observations,
as they characterize the revolution of 1823.
NARRATIVE.
175
triumphed in the change, and malignantly sneered at all those
who would before have restrained their rapacious power ; the
higher classes waited on the Governor with respectful obedience,
and those who lamented the loss of their constitution, mingled
with the rest, and after making their bow, quietly retired to their
homes, wisely considering, that the few could not withstand the
many, and it was useless to excite a hopeless struggle.
The despotic feelings of the new government were quickly
manifested. The suspected were seized, and dragged to wretched
prisons. The editor of the Patriota Funchalense, a man of
amiable feeling and deportment ; and the most celebrated lawyer
of the place, although a priest, were among the first victims, and
were in suspense concerning their fate when we quitted the
island, the health of both, impaired from confinement and the
unwholesome dungeons into which they had been plunged b.
Depositions were taken, without searching into the characters of
the witnesses ; false oaths seemed trifles, when old women or
young boys had any spite to gratify ; the accused were not con¬
fronted with their accusers; a few notes of the constitutional
hymn, falling from the lips of some thoughtless bullock-driver,
were punished with imprisonment ; some did not await their
sentence, but poisoned themselves in despair ; and no man dared
to look his neighbour in the face, fearing his eyes might betray
sentiments which his tongue dared not utter. The mildness,
moderation, and gentlemanly feeling of the Governor, lessened the
horrors of persecution, and no capital punishment took place while
we remained ; but (what was thought to be equally shocking) an
auto da fe was made in the market-place, of the acts of the
"The editor of the Patriota Funchalense has since been banished to Terceira, but
the poor lawyer would have had much more to encounter in his exile to Angola, had
he not, by dint of great activity, hardihood, and talent, succeeded in getting his
sentence repealed.
176
NARRATIVE.
camera, and of all books and writings connected with the con¬
stitution.
We left the luxuries of a noble mansion and its adequate
establishment, without other regret, than that of separating from
its friendly owner ; and full of animated hopes for the future
embarked on board an American brig, bound for the Cape de
Verde Islands. We had lost all prospect of a vessel, that would
convey us direct to Sierra Leone, and, hoping to profit by the
delay, Mr. Bowdich determined to go to Bona Vista, and thence
to Fogo, and the other islands, taking the chance of conveyance to
Sierra Leone, by way of the Gambia. We weighed anchor at
three in the afternoon of the 26th of October, 1823, but remained
in sight of Madeira for forty-eight hours ; and I cannot imagine
any situation more tantalizing, than that of being on board a
miserable, dirty vessel, tossing about with a foul wind, and a
heavy swell, tormented with the worst sickness in the world,
and still in sight of a beautiful shore, with all the comforts which
wealth and friendship could supply, crowding upon the memory.
I hid myself in my birth, and would not look out of it again, till
well assured we had lost all view of Madeira ; the recollection of
its beauties, and all that had passed in it, would have rendered
me unfit to encounter my new trials, and while surrounded by my
husband and children, I should justly have felt ashamed of
encouraging a single discontented feeling.
The master of our vessel was then making his first voyage as
Captain, and dearly did we rue his inexperience. He possessed
little or no authority over his crew, consisting of two mates, and
five men, the former of whom plundered our provisions at
pleasure ; and, as he was extremely parsimonious, he not only
shared in the spoil, but collected the remnants of our meals
(thereby depriving his half-fed men) for his own table. Our good
friend had amply supplied us with delicious wine, and Mr. Bow-
NARRATIVE.
177
dich had agreed with me, that the malmsey at least would be
wasted, if broached at sea : reserving it, therefore, for better times,
we left the cask untouched; but, tired with the disagreeables
attending the voyage, our resolution gave way, and we had
recourse to our treasure. To our great dismay, however, not
a single drop of malmsey, or any other sort, was left us. This
disappointment entailed upon us suspicion in its fullest extent,
and we feared for every part of our property which might be
deemed valuable to another. My imagination carried me to a
considerable length, to the no small entertainment of Mr. Bowdicli
and myself also, after I recovered from my fright. On a former
occasion, I had been five days in the same ship with a murderer,
who was going home to take his trial, and his appearance, added
to his own description of his barbarity, so strongly excited my
terror, that although it was a near approach to suffocation, from
the warmth of the climate, I could only rest while my child was
shut up with me in our little state room. By a remarkable
coincidence, the first mate of the American, with red hair, and
redder eyes, resembled this criminal, (whose features I had never
forgotten) and Mr. Bowdich having taxed him very warmly with
the theft of our wine, and he becoming very sulky, I could not
divest myself of the idea that he would be revenged. After
I had passed two sleepless nights in secretly watching him, on the
third, he approached Mr. Bowdich’s birth, with great caution and
hesitation, his hand resting upon a large knife he always wore in
his bosom ; I started from my mattress, and he retreated. I then
waked Mr. Bowdich, and, fearful of being understood by others,
related my fears to him in Italian ; he ridiculed me of course, but
at my earnest entreaty, promised to be upon his guard, and
agreed to feign sleep, should the man re-enter the cabin, which he
did in about an hour. Carefully looking around him, he went
first to the birth where my maid and child were sleeping, and
178
NARRATIVE.
afterwards passed to mine, where he found every thing apparently
quiet. He then drew out his knife, and crossed over to Mr. Bow-
dich ; my agony was excessive, but he only proceeded to a locker
close by, took out a piece of cold pork, cut off a large slice, and
bore it triumphantly away. I greatly hoped that this proceeding
had passed unnoticed by Mr. Bowdich, and I should certainly
have kept my own secret ; but a peal of laughter soon convinced
me I had not escaped, and had for life exposed myself to Iris
ridicule. I was so ashamed, that I should not now have related
the circumstance, but for the hope it might serve as a useful
lesson to those of my own sex, who, like me, may indulge in
groundless apprehensions.
After having been tossed about by contrary winds for ten days,
the Captain evidently ignorant of his longitude, and uncertain of
his latitude, yet so perfectly at his ease as to sleep half the day,
and to grumble at being awoke in the night when squally, we
heard the cry of land; and though the Peak of Teneriffe is not
more than three days’ sail from Madeira, we scarcely regretted our
snail-like progress, when we went upon deck, and enjoyed a superb
view of this stupendous mountain. We passed within four miles
of the back of the island, and as the weather was quite clear, its
snowy summit and smallest peaks were visible. We fancied we
could trace the routes of the illustrious travellers who had visited
it, and this incident served to heighten Mr. Bowdich’s impatience
to explore Fogo.
On the sixteenth day we came in sight of the island of Sal,
looking like a coffin of sand, and passing it, reached Bona Vista, a
name which must have been given in derision, for no land was
ever so unpleasing to the sight ; being a mere sand bank, with
two peaks of bare basalt toward the middle, and not a trace of
vegetation or humanity. The collection of hovels, called the
town, is so completely hid in the bay, that being all strangers, and
NARRATIVE.
179
the harts defective, we passed it twice, without even guessing at
its situation. This obliged us to spend another night on board,
with our provisions exhausted : we cheered ourselves, however, by
the comforts we expected to share on the morrow.
The object of Mr. Bowdich's visit to Bona Vista, was to secure
the good offices of Senhor Manoel Martins, not only to forward
his scientific researches, but to assist him in proceeding to the
river Gambia. This person, from the number of his slaves, his
possessions in the different islands, and his extensive commerce,
has acquired an influence and power, which render the Governor’s
authority nominal. He had been sent as deputy for the Cape de
Verde Islands, to the Cortes, and upon the return of absolute
monarchy in Lisbon, as he was too powerful to affront, his services
were courted, to preserve tranquillity in these settlements. Cir¬
cumstances, of a commercial and friendly nature, had given the
house of Keir in Madeira so strong a claim upon him, that we
delivered our letter of recommendation to the Harbour Master to
forward, in the fullest confidence that we should be in possession
of manifold comforts in a few hours : mid-day however arrived, and
no news from the shore ; and in the afternoon, completely worn
out with expectation and hunger, Mr. Bowdich took the first boat
he could get, and proceeded to Senhor Manoel’s house. At seven
in the evening, having given up all thoughts of landing till the
next day, I made a sailor’s mess of a remnant of chocolate found in
a basket, and some of the Captain’s biscuit and sandy sugar, for
which I insisted on paying; and although eaten out of the
saucepan, it was delicious to hungry mouths. At nine o’clock
Mr. Bowdich returned to the vessel, with a basket of fresh biscuit,
butter, wine, and oranges, generously supplied us by an English¬
woman, who had been shipwrecked, and was with her husband,
waiting for an opportunity of returning to England. I was then
informed, that the Governor and his whole suite were staying at
2 A 2
180
NARRATIVE.
Senhor Manoel’s, (having come to Bona Vista on the pretence of
health) which rendered it impossible for that gentleman to accom¬
modate us in his own house ; and as there was scarcely another in
the place, he requested us to go to a room in the custom-house,
tiU an unfinished dwelling should be ready to receive us. He
apologized for having suffered us to remain so long on board the
ship, but stated, that he had been a few miles into the country
with the Governor, and our letter did not reach him till his
Teturn ; he promised every thing that Mr. Bowdich desired, not
only to forward his schemes for visiting all the islands, by having
vessels ready at any moment, but even offered to send us to the
Gambia in one of his own schooners.
Exhilarated by these fair prospects, we left the American with
no small thankfulness, and although prepared by Mr. Bowdich to
see a house in the style of those inhabited by the Cape Coast
Mulattoes, my expectations were far exceeded. I was presented
to the Governor, and Senhor Manoel’s eldest, unmarried daughter,
an interesting girl of eighteen, and as soon as possible, we
adjourned to the custom-house. The crowd of blacks thrusting
themselves into our room, and the noise around, conv' iced us wre
were again in Africa, and on getting a bowl • of milk for our
children, and forcibly ridding ourselves of our numerous visitors,
we felt indescribable satisfaction at being so far on our way to the
desired land. At three we were summoned to dinner, and on this
subject do I indeed regret, that I am not possessed of the
animated powers of description which peculiarly characterized
Mr. Bowdi cli’s pen, that playful satire, which, repressed as it was
by his benevolent heart, would occasionally burst from its control,
only to be recalled by some winning action, which sealed the
pardon before the offence could be recorded on the memory.
Our entrance was rudely obstructed by a formidable sentinel,
with a ragged jacket, and a rusty cutlass, and without either shoes
NARRATIVE.
181
or stockings. We then passed through a range of kitchens and
hovels, inhabited by slaves ; and the steams from the former,
conveyed so strong a sensation of dirt, that it required a tolerable
appetite to encounter the food which awaited us. Our progress
was impeded by throngs of black, mulatto, and Portuguese
children, of all sizes. We ascended a flight of dirty stairs, and on
entering the room, were presented to the Governors family. His
wife, who is at the same time his niece, is fair, and possesses more
charms of face than figure, for, added to the usual diminutive size
of her countrywomen, she had so completely adapted her style of
dress to the climate, that she needed a few elastic bandages, to
put all in order again. Her sisters were both interesting, and all
three evidently superior to the rest, whom, in deference to my
sex, I cannot, be uncharitable enough to describe, save one, who
was remarkable for being at that time a bride. It is a cunning
trick of young men, cadets for instance, to marry some old despairing
relation of Senhor Manoel’s, that they may claim a seat at his
table, a room in his house, and save themselves the expense of
living. The present instance proved how unnecessary were per¬
sonal charms, manners, accomplishments, or fortune ; for the bride,
who had been a widow, was on the wrong side of forty, her
countenance presenting a fine contrast of red pimples on a yellow
ground, and her large limbs, and sullen looks, seemed to promise,
that, when the first transports (which to my astonishment were
not reserved for tele d tetes) were passed, she would become the
preceptress of her husband, a boy of eighteen, and not spoil him
for want of manual discipline ; such chastisements being by no
means rare on either side, in the annals of Portuguese conjugal
happiness. This pair sat close together, almost on the same chair,
ate off the same plate, and drank out of the same glass, the lady
acting as a jackal, in clawing every thing she could catch for her lord.
When all were assembled, including visitors, strangers, relations,
182
NARRATIVE.
and dependants, we generally formed a party of twenty. Piles of
meat, stewed in grease, and oozing out their own under a burning
sun, which seemed to varnish the eaters as well as eatables ; large
tureens of stagnant soup, pyramids of bouilli; hors d' oeuvres of
garlick, dressed in different fashions, were presented to us, escorted
by myriads of black flies, that disputed every morsel; servants
were obliged to stand behind us, and continually wave large cloths
to keep them away ; if this exercise ceased for a minute, the table
would be almost black with these disgusting insects. The freedom
of helping, the calling of different people for salt, bread, fyc., made
it so like a diligence dinner at a bad French inn, that could I have
altered personal appearance a little, I should have fancied myself
making the grand tour. Before the dessert arrived, the younger
children, one of whom was only two years old, made their way
from the kitchens below, where they had acquired all the dirt that
would stick to their skins and clothes, and either bestriding the
backs of young slaves, or crawling along the sanded floor, came in,
bawling for wine and fruit. One of them, laying his greasy paws
upon my silk gown, set his dirty foot on my knee, and in an
instant mounted on to his father’s chair, where he was caressed for
the feat, and crammed till he was almost unable to return to the
lower regions.
The breakfasts were as abundant as the dinners, and I was
informed, that a supper was partaken of nightly, that did not yield
in grossness to the other repasts ; and thus did these people, males
and females, with the thermometer ranging between 80° and 90°,
daily devour this enormous quantity of animal food, with smaller
meals intervening. I must not omit, however, to assure future
travellers, that Bona Vista affords excellent fresh butter, milk, and
eggs, things so grateful after a voyage ; or to praise the unbounded
hospitality of Senhor Manoel Martins. I have no doubt he would
readily have extended his kindness to us for months, and he was
NARRATIVE.
183
almost angry because we declined all meals except breakfast and
dinner. He keeps a second table, at which his wife, who is an
amiable, well-behaved woman, presides over her younger children,
the clerks, $c. ; and it is calculated, that two hundred mouths are
daily supplied in this establishment.
Among the dependants of the household is a music-master,
expressly imported from Lisbon to teach the children ; but as
neither masters nor misses have musical talents or inclination, he
fills up his abundant leisure by keeping a little school, exercising
his profession only in the evening, when he thumps out a sonata
on the piano, amid a clamour of tongues which renders it impos¬
sible to do more than guess at the sounds he produces. This
double function of his was no small inconvenience to Mr. Bowdich
and myself, for his school-room, which was at the same time his
bed-room, wras only divided from our custom-house quarters by a
demi-partition, to the top of which the scholars climbed, (their
master assisting them by holding their legs) to peep over at the
strangers, or through which they bored holes to shoot small seeds
at us. On our complaining of this annoyance, he assumed a huge
straw hat, and a tremendous broad swrord, and paced up and down
the room, to the amusement, not terror of his scholars, who enjoyed
the joke too much to run away. This alone would have been a
droll incident, but, after three days, the nuisance was augmented
by the accession of a serjeant and some recruits, who, being
follow ed by their male and female playmates, rendered our lodging
so insupportable, that we could not remain in it. I have no
doubt, that Senlior Martins thought us very affected, and conse¬
quently procrastinated our removal to the new house ; but at last,
when I took refuge with the English lady above mentioned, who
kindly allowed me and my children to sleep on the floor of her
room, he gave us leave to take up our abode with the carpenters,
in the unfinished dwelling. Luckily, the wet plaster did us no
184
NARRATIVE.
injury, and we were enjoying a little quiet, when a vessel arrived
with prisoners from St. Jago, who had mutinied for want of pay,
having been ten months without receiving a farthing, and being
nearly reduced, with the rest of the Portuguese force at that place,
to starvation. This was the real motive for the Governor’s flight
to Bona Vista, for he deemed his life in danger while at St. Jago,
and so distant was the hope of relief from the mother country,
and his last speculation in orchil having failed, he thought it wise
to shelter himself under the protection of Senhor Martins.
After some months the insurrection was quelled, and the ring¬
leaders seized, who were the prisoners in question. They were
put in irons immediately on arrival, stripped of all clothing, except
a linen shirt and trowsers, and crowded with their wives and
children into a low room, under those we occupied. Our comfort
at home was destroyed by their conversation, intermingled with
cries and complaints, and our compassion strongly excited when¬
ever we went out, by their sickly and dejected appearance, as they
hovered round the grating to breathe the fresh airc. This event
was too important not to cause some commotion in the island ; the
guards (consisting of sentinels with no other covering than an old
drab coat with a red collar, and the remnant of a cap, bearing a
halberd stalf on the right shoulder) were doubled d, and the cracked
c The areater number of them were afterwards banished. We had at one time a
chance of sailing with them, and 1 entertained great apprehension of their seizing the
vessel, a circumstance which had taken place on a previous occasion ; the convicts
afterwards proceeding to Brazil.
d The valour of these military heroes is such, that, during the absence of Senhor
Martins at the Cortez, an English man-of-war anchored outside the bay, undiscovered
by those on shore, and sent an officer and boats crew in to ask for a little water.
The appearance of the English uniform so appalled the residents of Bona \ ista, that,
the sentinels having given the alarm, soldiers, captain, whites, blacks, and mulattoes,
all fled to the interior of the island, and left the town to the mercy of the supposed
invaders ; Senhora Martins only packing up as many of her valuables as were portable
at the moment.
NARRATIVE.
185
bell was sounded every half hour, accompanied by discordant cries
of “ all’s well.” The annoyance of these nightly sounds would
alone have tempted me to let all the prisoners loose, could I have
done so with impunity.
We found the Governor very gentlemanly, and speaking French
fluently. What his influence might be at St. Jago I know not,
but it did not even extend so far as to enable him to procure us a
bird at Bona Vista. He kept up some sort of form however, by
having an Orderly, who walked backwards and forwards through a
room where he could be seen, or came to announce the alarming
approach of a ship’s boat, or the anxious one of a fruit boat from
St. Jago, with despatches and oranges. We also saw a few
insignia of grandeur in perspective, such as a scarlet cloth, bordered
with black velvet, and thrown over a deal table. The secretary
too was always at hand about dinner or breakfast time, with his
manuscript in his hand, for the Governor's perusal, which he
presented with the same air as a school-boy presents a Christmas
carol, written under the inspection of his writing-master.
While the idea of ridicule is attached to every Portuguese
colony, from its poverty, and affectation of state, under a total
want of means to support even respectability, and peculiar con¬
tempt has been felt for that of the Cape de Verd Islands, from
the description given of it by Captain Tuckey, I must beg leave
to rescue the present Governor from the charges too justly laid
upon his predecessor, Don Antonio. Mr. Bowdich, myself, and
children, experienced every attention from him which he had the
power of bestowing, and, had he possessed the means, I believe he
would cheerfully have furthered Mr. Bowdich’s views. But,
totally dependant on Senhor Manoel, away from his own residence,
without money, alarmed at the rebellion of his troops, and uncer¬
tain of the effect it might have upon the powerful of his own
country, his Excellency must have been in a very unenviable state
186
NARRATIVE.
of mind, till the day before our departure, when a vessel arrived
with despatches from Lisbon. His conversation was good, his
manners polite, and he pressed the few delicacies he had to offer
for our acceptance, with a friendliness, which augured well of his
disposition. The higher classes of most countries combine dignity
with affability, and I never saw it more happily blended than in
the females of the family ; it completely reconciled me to the
strange appearance of coarse, coloured, cotton gowns, washed out
silk handkerchiefs, and a few nameless barbarisms, not yet banished
by Portuguese good breeding.
Our second residence gave us a view of the Sunday cavalcade
going to mass. It was preceded by a parade, summoned by a
cracked drum ; and such a mixture of tall and short, fat and lean,
could not be exceeded by any caricaturist in the world. Not one
of the soldiers but wanted shoes, or some part of his uniform ;
and their dismissal reminded me very forcibly of Bombastes F urioso
taking leave of his men, the soldiers in question being quite as
incapable of “ making a row !” The black priest proceeded a few
minutes before the rest, to assume his robes, and a servant in a
mock livery headed the procession, carrying the Governor’s daughter
(a pretty clever child, five years old) in his arms. Papa and mamma
went next, the former in a full suit of black, knee buckles, cocked
hat, c fc.; his lady in black silk and velvet, which was carefully laid
aside immediately on her return, when she put on a white robe
for dinner, which was changed for a coarse cotton stripe by tea
time. The rest of the party walked indiscriminately, and feathers,
and flowers, and dyes of every hue, were mingled with aid-de¬
camps, cadets, strangers, mulattoes, slaves, and ragged black
children ; the whole population running to the spot, to enjoy
this display of grandeur.
A higher spectacle awaited us on the arrival of the vessel from
Lisbon, which decided the Governor’s fate, and as it just entered
NARRATIVE.
187
the bay, as we entered the dinner-room, Mr. Bowdich and I sat
in a quiet corner, and witnessed the whole effect. The excessive
agitation of the Governor was evinced by his rubbing his forehead,
pacing up and down the room in the most hurried manner, every
five minutes looking through the telescope ; and was finely con¬
trasted with the coolness and security of our powerful host. A
boat was sent with the cadets, secretary, and orderly, to receive
the officers and the news, and soon a general rush to the door
announced its return. Mutual embraces and exclamations were
succeeded by the production of two crimson silk bags. The Gover¬
nor instantly retired with his, and Senhor Manoel was quietly
examining his own, and giving out the private letters before he
thought of those which concerned himself, when his Excellency
rushed back, hugged him round the neck, and congratulated him
on the receipt of a fresh order of knighthood, the badge of which
was accordingly tied on with a smart blue ribbon, by the Governor
himself, and a few minutes after, was subjected to the inspection
of my young, greasy friend, above-mentioned, whose father, it
seemed, thought it more fit to please his child than himself ; and
the next morning wisely resumed his coloured cotton jacket,
observing, that if his sovereign had rewarded his services with a
hundred pounds, he wrould have kept on a cloth coat for a few
days. The bearer of the despatches, who was the Governor’s aid-
de-camp, was very pleasing both in manner and person, and as he
brought approbation with him, was welcomed with an ardour
which wras very entertaining to English sang froid. The party
was soon increased by the addition of all the Portuguese of the
place, to receive intelligence ; most of them had letters, the interest¬
ing parts of which they read aloud, even when they concerned
none but themselves ; exclamations of surprise and joy were
mingled with the inquiries of those who received no news ; the
2 B 2
188
NARRATIVE.
Governor’s brother-in-law snatched his sister’s letters from her
hand, and refusing to give them up, most provokingly read parts
of sentences, which only served to heighten her curiosity and
anger. I almost envied the general feeling, and so many happy
faces would have been a gratifying sight, but for the interruption
to the universal harmony, by the ex-governor of Bissao, who had
been removed from his command by the Constitutional Govern¬
ment, for having too openly dealt in slaves, but who had expected
his re-instatement. He would neither go away, nor sit down to
table, and at last became quite clamorous : Senhor Martins, with¬
out regarding him, ate his dinner with his usual coolness, and the
Governor vainly read, and shewed him the passages in the despatch
expressing universal satisfaction, but he raved on, till the Gover¬
nor’s lady condescended to soothe him into tranquillity. A mar¬
riage was to succeed this good news; and which I confess I should
have liked to have witnessed, as I understood the ceremonies in
our host’s family to be very original.
I have been tempted to make this digression, by the general
ignorance that prevails respecting the Cape de Verd Islands, and
to prevent future travellers from being deceived, as we were, by the
accounts given of the splendour of Senhor Manoel’s establishment;
accounts which are very generally received and propagated, people
being too apt to blend magnificence with power, and, certainly, his
infiuence at these settlements is complete. But it is time to return
to ourselves.
Mr. Bowdicli having claimed Senhor Manoel’s first promise of
forwarding his views of discovery, was told, if he would wait a short
time, he would have many opportunities, not only of visiting Fogo,
but also the whole group of islands. Five different plans were laid,
and each suddenly altered, or set aside. Mr. Bowdich tried to
beguile the tediousness of expectation, by inspecting Bona Vista
NARRATIVE.
189
in all directions, which might easily be done in a fortnight, pro¬
vided those obstacles were not opposed, which frustrated the
greater part of our endeavours.
The geology, botany, and conchology of a place, may always be
ascertained by the morning walks of an individual ; but to catch
fish, shoot birds, tyc., it is frequently necessary to have recourse to
others. This was our case, and we were obliged to leave the
island without satisfying ourselves respecting its ornithology or
ichthyology. We saw some large eagles, falcons, and boobies, and
a few birds of a smaller kind flying about, but could only procure
one or two of the latter. The Governor made us repeated pro¬
mises, but though we heard his nephew fire for hours, we were
invariably informed of his want of success. Mr. Bowdich tried
the effect of a few dollars, which prevailed in one or two instances,
but to no extent. The fishes seemed to be rare and beautiful,
but neither money nor entreaty could prevail on any one to catch
them. One day we were told, that the weather was too rough ; on
another, that our friends the school boys had taken the single
fishing boat in the place, on an excursion of pleasure, and it was
only by bribing one of Senhor Manoel’s cooks, that we were able to
examine the two or three mentioned in the appendix to this
narrative. All the inhabitants belong to, or are dependant on,
Senhor Martins, and it seemed impossible to rouse them from
their indifference, or to stimulate them to more exertion than that
of their appointed labours. I kept a troop of little ragged boys
and girls in pay, to bring me shells, but they would go no further
than the immediate precincts of the town, and they all deserted
me when I refused to purchase the same shells four or five times
over.
The eastern environs of the town appeared to be formed of a
conglomerate rock, mingled with basaltic pieces, resting on layers
of yellow tufa, coulies running east and west. On the western
190
NARRATIVE.
sides, the strata lie as follows ; three feet of basalt, with coulies
running eastward, and lighter coloured upwards, where not washed
by the sea ; two feet of grit with layers of shells, (apparently an
aqueous formation) mingled with sharp, angular pieces of basalt ;
a thin layer of red earth or tufa, formed from the decomposition
of the basalt. The pier rock seems to have a bed of sand under¬
neath it, and below that is a blue compact basalt: The surface
of the island is covered with sand, intermingled with patches of
conglomerated sand and lime, in which we found innumerable
shells. The grit rock also contained shells, and whole masses
of the bones of asteria. The botany presented nothing curious,
as will be seen in the appendix. The saline plants were the
most abundant, and a Dane once made an experiment to extract
alkalies from them, but they did not yield sufficient to make them
answer for commerce.
All the quadrupeds were of a domestic kind. Senhor Martins
confirmed the account given by Dampier, of the turtles coming
from the main land in June, July, and August, to lay their
eggs in the sand. There is also a tradition, that by eating the
flesh of these animals, and anointing with their blood, leprosy is
cured.
The inhabitants of Bona Vista are so well supplied with
necessaries, and even luxuries, from Portugal, England, and
America, that there is but little encouragement for any manu¬
facturer, particularly as they have no native productions to tempt
their industry. There was a black man, however, residing there
during my stay, an artisan from the opposite part of the continent,
who wove beautiful pagnes or scarves, both of silk and of cotton,
being supplied with the material for the former by his employers.
His loom was small, after the African fashion, but his web was
considerably wider than that of the cloths made on the leeward
coast. The patterns, of his own invention, were very pretty, but
NARRATIVE.
191
did not possess the chaste simplicity of those from Ashantee :
nothing could exceed the durability of his manufacture.
The water of Bona Vista is drawn from springs, and always
deposits a white sediment. It is reckoned remarkably wholesome,
but Mr. Bowdich could not analyze it, as his chemical apparatus
had been forwarded to Sierra Leone. The jars which stand in the
houses to hold this water, are made at St. Jago, from a porous red
clay. I do not think the people at Bona Vista even know how to
form a basket, and the island is altogether so barren and uninte¬
resting, that if it did not possess great purity of atmosphere, no
one could desire to visit it twice, and no place could be quitted
with so little regret®. The salt is of a coarse kind, but cheaper
than the finer sort, and is better adapted to some of the African
and American markets. It is collected in square, shallow pits,
and brought to the shore for lading, by asses. There is no orchil
at Bona Vista, although the trade in it is considerable, and almost
monopolized by Senhor Martins. It is chiefly procured from
St. Antonio*, which is far the most picturesque island in the
group, Fogo being formed of one lofty mountain, (said to be as
high as Teneriffe) without other scenery.
St. Antonio, I understand, is extremely well wooded, and offers
much interest to the botanist. As Mr. Bowdich thought his stay
there would probably be very short, he requested the Com¬
mandant, who is a great amateur of the science, to make him an
herbarium for examination, intending to call for it on his way to
F ogo ; but this, like every other plan, was frustrated by Senhor
* This completely exemplifies a remark of Baron de Humboldt’s, I believe, that
“ there is more true solitude in sand than in forest.” I have lived months at Cape
Coast, entirely alone, surrounded by magnificent and solemn woods, without ex-*
periencing the cheerless feeling, the sensation of loneliness and desertion, which
assailed me whenever I looked out of the window at Bona Vista.
f The collectors are paid threepence per pound.
192
NARRATIVE.
Manoel’s caprice. The higher part of this curious island, till
lately, was inaccessible, except by means of a rope which raised
and lowered the inhabitants whenever they exchanged visits. A
former bishop of St. Jago, who thought it his duty to inspect
every part of his see, was drawn up in this manner, and, upon
arriving unhurt at the top, gave thanks to God ; but not having
courage to descend, resolved never to return, and he gave up the
world, and died there a few years after. A communication is now
formed, by means of a narrow road cut out of the rock. It is
only wide enough for one ass, and if two were to meet in it, one
must infallibly perish, as they could neither pass each other, nor
turn back. To remedy this, a flag is hoisted at either end, as
soon as one commences the journey, which being visible at the
opposite starting point, warns the inhabitants not to proceed.
The climate of the elevated part is supposed to approach that of
Lisbon in temperature and purity. The luscious wine of the
Cape de Verde Islands, is chiefly made at St. Antonio ; it is the
colour of Madeira, but resembles mead in taste.
Fogo may be seen from Bona Vista on a very clear day, a
distance of about sixty miles. It frequently presents a beautiful
spectacle, as the flames are every now and then seen to issue from
the top. The ascent did not promise more difficulty than that of
Teneriffe, and five days were allotted, as ample time for its
complete inspection. We were told much of the enormous
quantities of pure sulphur, which lie unheeded at its summit, and
which could be made a valuable article of commerce ; we were
also assured, that the vegetation of the lower part was most
luxuriant. All these accounts served but to heighten Mr. Bow-
.dich’s wishes, and eventually to increase his disappointment, for
after having three times prepared for departure, with the expecta¬
tion of sailing in two hours, we were at last made happy by an
opportunity of proceeding in a vessel belonging to our host, and
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193
touching at St. Antonio, Mayo, &c., were to go to Fogo to embark
the bishop, and convey him to St. Jago, where I was to wait till
Mr. Bowdich had completed his inspection of the former, he then
crossing to me in one of the open boats, which frequently go from
Fogo to St. Jago. However, on the arrival of the despatches I
have already mentioned, we were coolly told, that the plan was
altered, that the vessel must go direct to St. Jago, and that
another opportunity was very uncertain. Mr. Bowdich naturally
expressed himself in terms of great dissatisfaction at this capricious
treatment, and our host, in consequence, tried to make a bargain
with a black man (whose vessel, from the River Gambia, was then
in the bay) to take us all to Fogo, wait there as many days as
might be required, and then convey us to Bathurst ; but the black
trader talked so much of the correspondents who would be
awaiting his return, and was so unwilling to accommodate us by
touching at Fogo, that Mr. Bowdich was obliged to relinquish his
visit to that island for a time, but fully determined to return by
one of our vessels of war, which frequently lie at the Cape de
Verde islands during the rainy season on the coast, and with a
British authority close to him, and a few dollars, he would
probably have met with more success, than when trusting to
Portuguese professions, the fulfilment of which was demanded by
gratitude, and nothing asked on the score of science and discovery.
How cruelly even this project was frustrated, is already known to
the world, and I have now only to hope, that Fogo will not long
remain unexplored, as I have no doubt that it offers a rich harvest
to the scientific traveller, and while Teneriffe boasts of such
visitors as Yon Bucli and de Humboldt, it seems lamentable, that
a volcano actually burning, not far distant, and equally accessible,
should remain wholly unknown.
Our only alternative was to proceed to the Continent without
further delay, and we took our passage direct to Bathurst in the
194
NARRATIVE.
black man’s schooner, in which we were accommodated far beyond
our expectations, as it had been fitted up for the short voyages of
the English Officers on that station, and was as airy as so small a
vessel could well be. When it became dark, however, our
troubles began again, for we were actually covered with cock¬
roaches, spiders, and mice. The mice ate our clothes as well as
our provisions, and the cock-roaches poured upon us from every
crevice, and settled in such numbers upon my baby, that I was
obliged to sit up almost the whole of each night to brush them
off ; and to add to these disagreeables, the partition from the hold
fell down, and the cargo of salt came pouring upon us with such
a rushing noise, that as it was too dark to convince my eye-sight,
I magnified it into the sea, and gave myself up as lost.
The owner of the vessel had been a slave, and having afterwards
procured his freedom, became Captain’s steward in a man-of-war.
Having served in this capacity some time, at a convenient
opportunity he ran away, and finding excellent friends among
those who labour for Africa, was enabled to return to the Gambia,
where he married, and has since become a respectable trader.
But his conduct to us (in exacting enormous passage-money, and
taking advantage of our disagreeable situation) evinced a want of
principle that disappointed us ; and, added to two or three other
instances which have come within my knowledge, tended to
confirm what must give every friend of Africa some pain to admit,
(and indeed, will scarcely be admitted by those who have never
visited these people) that the best educated, the most respectable
of the present generation of African blacks, appear to have an
inherent want of honour and rectitude, which only waits the
opportunity to be called forth6. This man’s livelihood almost
EThis remark must only be understood as applying to examples hitherto known,
where the mistake has been on our own side. There is no instance as yet (save one
which I shall mention presently) of any African having been taken from the country
NARRATIVE.
195
depended upon his character, he enjoyed numerous advantages
from the favour of the government at Bathurst, yet he could not
sufficiently early to be unprejudiced by former habits : it is astonishing how soon
they imbibe the principles of their fathers ; little urchins of five years will glory in
thieving from a white man, and in telling him a lie, when, to their own parents they
would not on any consideration infringe on truth or honesty. In my opinion, they
should be brought from Africa at the age of two or three years, should never be
suffered to have any intercourse with their own people while in Europe, and should
have a good common education, such as reading, writing, and arithmetic, by all
means a know ledge of gardening, and if possible, of agriculture, uniting to these any
mechanical trade for which they might shew an inclination. If once they go beyond
this, they become w'retched on their return home. Naturally indolent from climate
and constitution, a sort of despondence creeps upon them from the incongeniality of
their neighbours ; they become conceited from the comparisons they draw, and too
proud and lazy to work, they are at last obliged to submit to the humiliating
assistance of others, till they are so entangled with debts, that, hopeless, they become
indifferent, and their old habits creeping upon them by degrees, they die black
men in principle, manners, and religion. I am very happy to have found one instance
which contradicts the notion, that the African race is incapable of intellectual
acquirement ; though I must candidly confess, that till I met with this exception, I
was firmly prejudiced against their capability, beyond a certain extent. A girl was
taken, at the age of five years, from Congo to Curasao, in a slave vessel, and wras
publicly sold there. She fortunately fell into the hands of good people, who taught
her to be useful in household duties, and at the age of fourteen went with them to
Holland, where she perfected herself in the Dutch language. Misfortunes having
befallen her master and mistress, she was by them placed under the protection of the
Dutch Government, to prevent her from being carried back to Curasao to be resold.
She could then read, write, and sew, and living afterwards as servant in a Flemish
family, she learned to speak their language also. She was next the domestic of an
Englishman, who took her to Germany, where, from her knowledge of Flemish, she
quickly acquired the language of the country, and subsequently English and French,
both of which she reads and writes grammatically ; but I am sorry to say, this
Englishman attended more to her intellect than her morals, and she had a child by
him. When I last saw her, she was keeping her master’s house, giving an arithme¬
tical account of all expenses, making the linen required by the family, corresponding
with her master (when absent) both in French and English, and, from having
associated with her countrymen till the age of fourteen, retained enough of her
native tongue to answer any question put to her. I was very much interested for
2 C 2
196
NARRATIVE.
resist the temptation of making a few dollars, by taking advantage
of the pressure of our circumstances, and obliged us to pay more
for the short passage to the Gambia, (providing for ourselves) than
we gave for the much longer one from Madeira to Bona Vista:
unable to navigate his vessel himself, he had employed a French¬
man, and as neither could speak more than a few words of the
other's language, mistakes constantly occurred. Of this, the result
in one instance, was, that instead of making Porta Praya in
St. Jago, where we were to touch for a few hours, we made
another point, and went completely round the island, thereby
prolonging our voyage three days.
We were not sorry to see St. Jago, which is far more interesting
than Bona Vista. The town and forts are situated on the
eminences, and a beautiful grove of cocoa-nut trees borders the
shore, to the right of the bay. We anchored early in the
morning, and Air. Bowdich immediately went ashore, and
despatched emissaries in various directions, for plants and shells,
leaving me in the schooner to examine the most perishable, as he
sent them on board to me, and to preserve the best. I was also
to hail every boat I saw, in the hope of procuring fish, while he
went as far as he could with his bag and hammer, to examine and
collect specimens of the rocks h. We were tolerably successful, as
this poor creature, for she did not revolt my feelings by the usual conceit of her race ;
on the contrary, she was unassuming, and exceedingly grateful for the notice I took
of her and her little forlorn boy, for whose welfare she would be willing to sacrifice
every hope and enjoyment, and over whose education and morals she watches with
the most earnest solicitude. I was very anxious she should have been attached to
one of the schools in Africa, but she was too valuable for her master to part with,
and she is now losing the best years of her life, in a situation unworthy of her
abilities or good intentions.
h These specimens having been mingled with others, I have been unable to separate
them, especially, as I did not see them till I was deprived of assistance. An
American vessel, trading at St. Jago, returned home half laden with the clay in which
the sold is found, by way of experiment ; it yielded so much metal, that the vessel
NARRATIVE.
197
the results of this one day’s work will shew to those who peruse
the appendix, particularly, as there was but one fishing-boat in
the place, which did not make its appearance till five in the
afternoon. We managed to depart before sunset, notwithstanding
the efforts of the Commandant, who was in his usual state of
drunkenness, and whose ill humour, we were told, always in¬
creased with the quantity of wine he swallowed. He made the
owner of the vessel pay nineteen dollars for port dues, although
he did not trade, but merely took in a few planks, and two or
three bolts of canvass. After a voyage of twelve days, we reached
the River Gambia at night-fall, and proceeding up it, came to
anchor at too late an hour to disembark.
On the following morning, Mr. Bowdich presented his letters
to the Commandant, (Captain Findlay) who immediately received
us all at the Government-House, with the most hospitable
kindness. We intended to remain at Bathurst a month, and then
proceed to Sierra Leone ; but as the River Gambia is so little
known to science, Mr. Bowdich lost no time in commencing its
survey, and examining its natural productions. Alien not
otherwise employed, he himself made excursions, and in the
course of three weeks, the botany of Banjole (the island on which
Bathurst stands) was nearly completed, and after Mr. Bowdich 's
visit to Cape St. Marys, many plants were added from the main
land. The usual means were resorted to, of purchasing the birds,
shells, #c., brought us by the natives, and every facility was
afforded by our countrymen, particularly by the Commandant,
whose anxiety for the survey seemed to equal Mr. Bowdich’s.
The government-boats, and as many men as were required, were
returned for a full cargo, accompanied by two others ; but, when the Portuguese
Government were, by this proceeding, made sensible of their riches, they forbade any
further exportation, although, it would seem, they have never made any use of the
clay for themselves.
198
NARRATIVE.
always in readiness to attend, and although Captain Findlay (who,
from six year’s residence, was experienced in the baneful effects of
the climate) ventured to expostulate on Mr. Bowdich’s frequent
exposure of himself, he forwarded every scheme, by exerting his
power and authority to the utmost.
It was the intention to make a minute and detailed trigonome¬
trical survey, from the mouth of the river to Fort James, taking
in the island of Banjole, with drawings to denote the different
points particularized in the survey, and to include as much
natural history as could be ascertained during the different
excursions up and down the river.
Three weeks more were allotted for our stay, and the operations
were commenced; first, by Mr. Bowdich’s starting early every
morning for the nearer points, and returning in the evening, it
being a principal object with him to get back to Bathurst at night,
for the sake of his astronomical observations, which he was anxious
to multiply there as much as possible1. Having secured the
immediate neighbourhood, he departed for Fort James, where he
was absent nearly a week, and where he experienced the first ill
effects he had ever felt from the sun. He had been obliged to
stand three hours on the top of the fort, waiting for the responses
to his signals, in the burning heat of noon-day, which caused
the mercury to burst the thermometer, without the smallest
shelter. On his return, nothing could induce him to rest, and
take any decisive remedy for the constant headach which annoyed
him. He even deprived himself of the requisite portion of sleep,
and one night, fearing he had slept too long, he started in haste
from his bed in a state of profuse perspiration, exposed himself,
’ The observations were written in Mr. Bowdich’s memorandum-book, with initials
as references for himself; the sketches of the plan were also rudely drawn, but with
so little detail, that he alone could have made use of them; consequently, it has been
impossible to profit by his unwearied exertions.
NARRATIVE.
199
without other covering than a linen dressing gown, to the cold
land breeze, in an open gallery, and returned like ice. This
circumstance hastened the attack which was hovering over him,
and he was seized the next morning with the usual forerunners of
fever. Every medical aid was afforded ; the most unwearied and
thoughtful attention was paid him, night and day, by Captain
Findlay, and we flattered ourselves on the appearance of favourable
symptoms ; but his age and temperate habits, which we hoped
would have saved him, served but to lengthen the struggle ; they
were insufficient to counterbalance his extreme impatience at such
an interruption to his pursuits. His desire to recommence his
labours was so ardent that even when exhausted to a degree, that
we feared recollection had left him, he would call me to his bed
side, to know if I thought a week would enable him to be carried
about in a hammock, that he might determine the few points left
undone. No entreaties, persuasions, or artifices, could dispossess
him of this one irritating anxiety, and he closed a life of virtue
and honourable activity, on the tenth of January, 1824.
The partial testimony of a wife would gain but little credit with
strangers. I do not, therefore, presume to make any comment
upon Mr. Bowdich’s talents or disposition ; neither is it for me
to expatiate upon the consequences of the untimely death of one
whom Science will unceasingly mourn, as one of the most favoured
of her children, and to whose memory she will not fail to pay that
tribute, which is never withheld from departed excellence.
As for my own sorrows, were it possible for me to utter them,
I have, as a private individual, neither the right nor the inclination
to obtrude them upon general notice, conscious that the attempt
to make such feelings public must only cast suspicions upon their
sincerity.
200
NARRATIVE.
r
CHAPTER II.
Bathurst founded _ Situation and Climate of Banjole — Harmattans. —
Description of the town of Bathurst. — Population. — Building
stone. — Gillyfree. — Albreda. — Slave dealing. — Me. Carthy’s
Island — Account of the manners and costume of the Joloffs and
Mandingoes. — Gold. — Manufactures. — Music. — Dancing. —
Horses. — Governments _ Alarms.
The few general remarks I have to offer upon the settlements
of the Gambia, arise from casual observation, and are so trivial,
that, if the spot were better known, I should not attempt their
publication. The chief good which I can hope to arise from
them, will be that of interesting a future traveller to explore
further. I must confess, that even I could have done much more
under other circumstances ; but before Mr. Bowdieh's seizure, I
was so completely occupied in botanical examinations and Arabic
translations, that I had not a moment for any thing else ; his
fortnight’s illness was productive of so much fatigue, that, inde¬
pendent of the great shock I received, total rest was absolutely
necessary ; and the remainder of my stay was lingered out, not in
actual malady, but in a constant struggle to assume such tranquil¬
lity as would ensure me mental and bodily strength.
On giving the Island of Goree back to the French, it was the
intention to repair Fort James, for the residence of the English,
NARRATIVE.
201
but it was in so shattered a state, that it was deemed more
advisable to establish a new settlement ; and most assuredly, had
the whole river been searched, a worse situation in point of
healthiness, could not have been fixed on, than the Island of
Banjole. Its commercial advantages, however,' were thought suffi¬
cient to counterbalance the evils which had already driven the
natives from the place, and the town of Bathurst was founded in
1816.
Much has been done by making dikes, cutting the timber which
covered the island, and cultivating the soil ; but nothing can ever
totally eradicate the insalubrious exhalations arising from its
locality. It is so low, that the high tides, which occur in F ebruary
and March, continually encroach on the sand ; and it is probable,
that some will hereafter regret having built houses so close upon
the shore.
Numerous creeks intersect the island, and when the tide retires,
leave stagnant pools ; the soil, which reflects back the heat with
intensity, is in general sandy, with scattered patches of vegetable
mould, but alluvial and marshy in the neighbourhood of the
creeks, the half dried margins of which exhale a baneful miasma
that alone would generate fever, needing no addition to its
poisonous effects from the bad quality of the water. The river,
in its whole extent, flows through a thickly-wooded country, and
the mangroves penetrate far into its bed on each side ; conse¬
quently, the return of the tide brings with it a quantity of putrid
vegetable matter, which is continually deposited on the banks.
The only advantage which this Gambia settlement possesses, is its
exposure to the powerful north and north-west winds, blowing
directly from the sea. They generally prevail from December till
May, but, when the rains commence, in the month of June, the
island is deprived of their purifying influence ; and it is this
temporary privation, admitting the accumulation of morbific prin-
202
NARRATIVE.
ciples, rather than the humidity of the soil, which causes the
increase of malady at this period. It generally assails new resi¬
dents in August, and few are the exceptions among the oldest
inhabitants, of the month of October passing, without their
being attacked by the fever of the country.
These disadvantages are more or less attendant upon the greater
number of our African settlements, but Bathurst possesses an
additional danger, which has proved fatal to many ; and a painful
instance of it occurred during my residence there, in the person
of Mr. Malcolm Ritchie, who fell a victim to his indefatigable
exertions in the pursuit of his medical profession. This great evil
is, the considerable and inconstant range in the thermometer,
during the space of twenty-four hours ; I have repeatedly seen it
as low as 60° at six in the morning, and as high as 90° at mid-day,
in the shade. A consumptive constitution, therefore, must not
calculate on experiencing that relief at Bathurst, which is so
generally found in a warm climate.
The Harmattans, or hot winds from the desert, occurring chiefly
in December and January, are severe, and more scorching than
those of the leeward coast ; they frequently crack tumblers and
glass shades, and one, unusually powerful, cracked even the large
bell of the barracks. If, therefore, combining the variation of the
climate, the locality, the rarity of good soil, with the frequent
scarcity of fruit, vegetables, and pasturage, I pronounce Bathurst
to be the least healthy of all our African settlements, no one
will accuse me of being prejudiced by the misfortune which there
befel me.
Since the clearing of the island from its superfluous timber,
many pretty houses have been erected, which render the town
extremely prepossessing in its appearance from the river k; and
k The annexed drawing, PI. 10, was taken from the upper veranda of the
Government-House. It gives a faithful delineation of the greater part of the barracks,
BAT Jill IT K H 'll’
Ai/“ A/ /f ft'/ -if mud /<'!*■/
: :
.
NARRATIVE.
203
portions of land are granted to those who apply for them, with an
expense of a few dollars for the title deed, and on condition that
a certain sum shall be laid out in building on the spot, within a
given period, and that the space allotted for the street shall not
be encroached upon. The public buildings, such as the Hospital1,
the officer’s quarters, the soldier’s barracks, the Government
House, and the prison, have all been raised from the Colonial F und,
formed by the duties of the port; and when this fund is sufficiently
increased, further improvements, which are projected, will be
carried into execution ; such as the continuation of a wall to keep
out the high tides, and a market-place, to be built in Mc Cartliy’s
Square, three sides of which now constitute the officer’s quarters,
the goal, the officer’s quarters, the flag staff, anti all the houses of the merchants. The
group of figures in front, pourtrays the costume of a mulatto woman and her atten¬
dants, dressed for a visit at the Government-House.
1 I cannot let this opportunity pass of paying a small tribute of gratitude to those
benevolent beings who first founded the orders of nuns that attend the hospitals in
France. The services of these charitable females are now extended to all the French
colonies, and Sir Charles Mc Carthy permitted two to superintend the patients at
Bathurst. Perhaps, the superior management of our colonial hospitals, may render
them less necessary, and may have induced many to think them superfluous ; I have,
however, not only heard all those who have been under their care, speak in the most
thankful terms of their unwearied attentions, but I can add my own experience. The
aid of Sister Marcelline, at Bathurst, was invaluable to me, for after I had sat up eight
successive nights with Mr. Bowdich, I was prevailed on to accept her repeated offers
of assistance; and she unremittingly persevered in her good offices, during the
remainder of my poor husband’s illness, although her own health evidently suffered
from the exertion. This kind hearted woman belonged to the order of St. Joseph,
and wore a bright blue robe, white forehead cloth, and black bib and veil, a costume
which admirably became her very handsome face. She told me, that the members of
her community professed only for a certain term; that those who went to the colonies,
were only such as had volunteered to do so, but that they had bound themselves to
remain there five years, after which, they were at liberty like the rest whose term of
profession was expired, either to renew their vows, or quit the veil, and even marry
if it suited their inclinations.
2 D 2
204
NARRATIVE.
the barracks, and the prison. Large yards or gardens are gene¬
rally attached to the houses, and the streets are very wide, tending
much to the salubrity and cleanliness of the place, which, notwith¬
standing its baneful atmosphere, promises to be a settlement of
considerable importance, from its great commercial opportunities "*.
The population, according to a census taken a year and a half
ago, amounts to 200 souls, independent of servants, strangers,
(coming and going at all seasons) and the military force, which
generally amounts to 100 men.
The stone used for building appears to be a sandstone, strongly
impregnated with oxide of iron, and containing oyster-shells ; it is
all brought from Dog Island, a few miles further up the river.
The lime is made from the abundant oyster-shells, lying in every
creek, and a flour-barrel full fetches a dollar ; it is even carried to
St. Jago, where fuel to make the same quantity would cost two
dollars.
The river winds very much in its course, and during the rains,
its water is fresh at Jillafree (or Gillyfree), about twenty-five
miles from the mouth, where a factory has been established for the
inland trade. Albreda, which I understand is picturesque in its
situation, is about a mile from it, belongs to the French, and I do
m Its principal trade is in gold, timber, hides, bees’ wax, and the gum of Portendic,
to which may be added several articles of minor consideration. Some idea of the
importance of this trade may be formed, when we recollect, that in 1816 there were
none but grass and mud huts, and that the merchants now residing there, have built
a row of spacious and substantial houses, as may be seen in the plate engraved at the
expense of the above merchants. It includes only the front of the town, and the
original sketch was taken from the river. Neither this plate, nor my own, contain the
two most important buildings, the Government-House, and the hospital, both extensive
and handsome edifices. The former cost nine thousand pounds, and like all the rest,
was erected without the slightest assistance from government. Bathurst adds to the
many extraordinary instances resulting from the exertions of individuals, a spirit which
England seems to possess in a more eminent degree than that of any other country.
NARRATIVE.
205
not hesitate to declare, is a known emporium for slaves and
smuggling. The Chief, and only authority there, for he is not to
be styled Governor or Commandant, received Mr. Bowdich very
hospitably, and offered him more comforts than his means seemed
to promise. Slaves are brought by the concealed agents for the
trade to Albreda, where they are secreted by the residents,
especially in the houses of the French mulattoes, till a French
vessel arrives ; a frequent event, as a considerable trade is carried
on by means of small craft, between Senegal, Goree, and the River
Gambia. It is at Albreda that the bargain is struck ; but, as all
foreign vessels are subject to examination as they pass and repass
the town of Bathurst, they do not ship their live cargo till they
reach Salem, situated to the north of the river’s mouth ; where
the slaves, having been marched through the bush or forests, ineet
their purchasers, and are taken thence to supply any market where
they are likely to fetch a good price. Several proofs of this
occurred during my residence at Bathurst, and one particularly
interested me. A very fine boy, named Samba, about twelve
years of age, threw himself upon the protection of the Comman¬
dant, stating, that he had been purchased by a black woman", and
taken to Albreda, where he was sold to a F renclnnan ; and, that
in marching to Salem, he had contrived to escape from his guide,
and hide himself in the mangroves till he perceived a canoe
starting for the opposite side of the river, in which he begged a
passage, and on landing at Bathurst, immediately sought safety at
0 This woman had long been suspected of slave-dealing, and a poor slave girl
belonging to her applied to Captain Findlay in my presence, for protection against
the ill usage of her mistress, and shewed marks of severe blows. She was of course
immediately taken care of, but her owner assembled some friends in the evening, and
tried to force her from the person to whom she had been temporarily confided by
Captain Findlay. This was previous to Samba’s escape, which with other instances,
amply justified the seizure of the woman, and she was in confinement when I left
Bathurst, waiting to be sent to Sierra Leone for trial.
206
NARRATIVE.
the Government-House, whence he was sent to take up his abode
with the other liberated Africans. The truth of his story, with all
its details, has been sworn to, and I am sorry to say, is not the
only instance of French slaving, to which I have been almost a
witness.
James Fort is immediately opposite to Albreda, on an island
three-quarters of a mile in extent, and is now a mere ruin. It
formerly possessed great strength, and mounted twenty guns, but
was blown up by the French0.
A new settlement has been formed about four hundred miles up
the river1’, on an island, supposed to be four leagues long, and
called Mc Carthy, in honour of the late Governor-General. It is
said to be much more healthy than Bathurst. About twenty
soldiers commanded by a serjeant, keep possession of it ; and the
discharged soldiers of the Second West India Regiment were
proceeding thither when I left the Gambia, land having been
granted to each, to build on and to cultivate, thus forming a
settlement, which, from its situation, is likely to be very flourishing.
It already possesses an English factory, and would be a very
desirable residence for the scientific traveller, who would there be
able to form some rich collections, and make some very valuable
observations on an unknown part of Africa, while he would enjoy
ample protection, and could reach it without difficulty. A Wes¬
leyan missionary is about to establish a school there, and as he is
an amiable, indefatigable man, inured by several years’ residence
o I was much amused by a perusal of Francis Moore’s description of the Gambia,
in 1738. It is written with much simplicity, and enables us to compare the former
with the present state of affairs. I am sorry to add, that not the slightest improve¬
ment seems to have taken place among the natives, since that period, although we
have been in possession of the settlements more than a hundred years.
p The river is said to be navigable many miles beyond this island, but that large
vessels cannot even reach this part, in consequence of the bar at Barracunda.
NARRATIVE.
207
to the climate, and encouraged by unusual progress, little doubt
can be entertained of his success.
The black inhabitants of Banjole, are principally from the Joloff
country, and followed the English from Goree. They are even
more idle than their neighbours, and have no manufactures. I
was much struck with their insolent manners, for the Fantees,
whom I believe to be as bad as any black nation in Africa, were
kept in sufficient order by the small number of Europeans at
Cape Coast, to shew at least an outward respect : they never
presumed to enter a white man’s door without permission, and
always lowered the cloth from their left shoulder, as a salute when
you met themq. At Bathurst, you are liable to their intrusion
whenever they please, and if you meet them when walking, they
always expect you to turn out of the path for their accommo¬
dation. This levelling principle is contended for, as highly con-
tributive to civilization, and I would not pretend to offer my
opinion, where there are so many better qualified to judge ; but
I must urge, that the apparent results are extremely revolting to
European feelings. The manners of the people at Cape St. Mary’s
are so entirely without restraint, that they cannot be ten minutes
in your room, without disgusting your senses or your delicacy, and
i I would not be understood to place too high a value upon ceremonies of this
nature, but form goes a great way with barbarians, and when trifles are allowed, they
will soon try to take unpleasant freedoms. I have seen many proofs at the Gambia,
of the pernicious effects of the liberty allowed to the black inhabitants, and certainly
the feelings of an European female cannot escape some painful shocks. I have now
visited the coast from Goree to Accra, and at the Gambia alone have witnessed what
could not be reconciled on the scores of barbarity and ignorance. I was the first
white woman who had ever been at the town of Naango, in the river Gabon, and
there had occasion to punish the insolence, not indecency, of the queen ; but once
was sufficient, and I was by all others treated with as much deference as if I had
been a divinity: of the Ashantees, whom I have received by twenties, when alone iu
my house, I could not make the smallest complaint.
286
NARRATIVE.
the filth and nakedness of their children ought at least to be
excluded.
For the medicines used by the Mandingoes, and for their
vegetable food, I must refer my readers to the Botanical Appendix.
Their manner of eating is like that of other blacks, clawing out of
the same calabash with their fingers. Most of them profess
Mahometanism, and speak Arabic, using the ancient form of salu¬
tation, “ Peace to thee,” now banished among the eastern Arabs r.
They are tall, slight, but well made, and though not so ugly as the
Fantees, are by no means a handsome race, when compared to the
JolofFs. The natives of both countries wear very large cloths, or
pagnes. The superior classes of Mandingoes, and the travelling
Moors of the interior3, frequently assume a turban, and this, added
to their full and graceful pagnes, their red sandals, their elegantly
shaped scimitars, and their light bows and arrows, gives them a
very picturesque appearance. The older Alcades wear a large,
pointed, grass hat, looking like a portion from the thatched roof
of their huts, while the younger chiefs have a white cap, beauti¬
fully embroidered with coloured cottons, in diamonds, stars, and
other devices. The higher class of women generally wear a short
shift, and two pagnes of equal size ; their gold ornaments are
numerous and massy, their ear-rings especially, which are often of
such a weight, as to require a string passing over the head to
support them, as they would otherwise tear the ears. Natives of
all shades, and both countries, assume very dark blue for mourn¬
ing, and lay aside their ornaments.
The mulatto women, who are mostly Joloffs from Goree, are some
of them handsome, and pretend to approach nearer to European
manners and customs than those of other parts of Africa ; at the
same time, they religiously preserve their own superstitions and
r See Burckhardt.
s See Plate 9.
NARRATIVE.
209
ceremonies, some of which are disgusting, and others prejudicial :
among the latter, is that of shutting themselves up in a room with
every ci’evice stopped, and a large fire burning during child-birth,
and neither mother or infant are allowed to breathe the fresh air
under a fortnight. This practice is so totally different from that
of other mulatto women, that I have thought it worth mentioning.
They wear pagnes like other natives, and as they are generally tall
and gracefully formed, look very elegant. They add a covering to
the head, which, if it were not so enormously high, would be
pretty ; it is an assemblage of several square handkerchiefs,
(frequently nine) put on much in the way of those of the French
peasantry, but rising in a very high cone at the back of the head,
and, on state occasions, ornamented with a broad gold band.
They generally wear shoes, and those who go without stockings
ornament their ancles.
The gold of the Gambia is much softer, and said to be superior
to that of the leeward coast. The gold merchants frequently
come from great distances, even forcing their way through the
country when it is covered with water. They never bring it in its
native state, alleging as a motive, that the English would then
sow it in their own country, and destroy their market. Their
manner of working it is not to be compared with that of the
Ashantees, or even Fantees. The Mandingoes use earthen
vessels, made from the red clay of their neighbourhood, which are
very rude, not glazed, nor exhibiting the beautiful patterns of the
Ashantees. Their calabashes are frequently well carved, and filled
up with black. They weave ingenious baskets and mats of palm
leaves, and they contrive very light stools and bedsteads of bamboo,
fastened together with wooden pegs. They also fabricate very
neat wooden snuff boxes, for which they have frequent use, taking
the most poignant snuff, prepared by themselves, in enormous
quantities. Their scimitars and quivers are well sheathed, and
210
NARRATIVE.
mounted with black and red leather of their own curing and
dyeing, and they weave stout cloth from the cotton abounding in
their neighbourhood.
Their mirth is usually evinced by noise, called music, and is
composed of yells and drums ; but they are by no means so barba¬
rous in their calmer moments. They have a sort of guitar, made
of a calabash, which I did not see ; but their other instrument,
the balafon, or balafew, is not unpleasing when well played. It
consists of two square frames, with uprights at each corner,
supporting the upper frame, and tied together with leathern thongs ;
on the top are fastened twenty flat bars of hard wood, decreasing
in size, and under these are placed small calabashes, with an orifice
in each ; they are so fastened to the bars, that the orifice is
immediately underneath, and the vibration of the bar, when
struck, fills the calabash, and causes the sound. The instrument
is played with two sticks, having heads, twisted round with cow’s
intestines. The people do not seem to have any notion of
harmony, all their airs being in the same key, and only varying
with the formation of the instrument. The first I heard was
evidently tuned to A major, but my own approaches to C minor,
evidently the effect of chance. I was told, that the Mandingoes
have several national songs, but I had no opportunity of hearing
any, except the canoe song, which is very pleasing : a few sing the
air, after which the whole party joins in the chorus ; they are
heard when starting from the opposite side of the river, long
before they can be distinguished by the eye, and as they gradually
approach, the effect is very harmonious. The Mandingo dance,
I am told, is not ungraceful ; but that of the Joloffs is beyond
every thing disgusting. Those who have seen the peasantry and
lower classes of Portugal dance, may form some notion of it,
although the disgusting attitudes are carried to a greater excess ;
to those who have never seen any thing of the kind, I cannot
NARRATIVE.
211
attempt description, but must leave them to imagine contortion
of body, carried to the most indecent length.
There is a breed of small horses in Mandingo, which is useful
for the saddle, but is never employed for burthens. TheSe animals
are tolerably swift, but not remarkably handsome; their chief paces
are walking and cantering, both of which are well adapted to the
climate ; they seldom trot well. The Moors sometimes bring
down beautiful, thorough-bred Arabians from the interior, which
fetch a great price, even in their native country. The sheep are
all wire-haired, and long-legged, but their flesh is well flavoured.
The goats give more milk than those further south, and the cows
and oxen are of a large size : the former do not give milk after
their calves die, and it is the practice to let the calf suck at inter¬
vals, milking between each. At certain periods there is plenty of
pasturage for the cattle of the island, and ground nut tops make
up for any deficiency. The native butter is extremely rancid, and
unpleasant to a European palate, from their method of making it ;
the milk not being sufficiently washed out, which soon turns it
sour, and gives it a bad flavour. I tasted some made at Bakkow
with a patent churn, by an Englishman, which was equal to that
of Europe.
The land on both sides of the river is divided among petty
chiefs, who are constantly at war with each other. The King of
Coomba is owner of the island of Banjole, and requires more
chastisement for his frequent assumption, than our military force
on that station is able to inflict. The merchants of Bathurst are
kept in constant apprehension by the threatened invasions of the
King of Barra, who rules the land immediately opposite. They
even deemed it necessary to apply to the Commandant while 1
was there, to take some precautions against this fearful enemy :
the guards were accordingly doubled, and other military pre¬
parations made. There was no occasion, however, for any extra
2 E 2
212
NARRATIVE.
vigilance, for the King kept the peace very strictly all the time I
was his neighbour, only making occasional excuses to extort a
present of rum, and when his drunken imagination elevated him
into a hero, he uttered the threats, which I believe, formed the
sole foundation for the fears of the Europeans. One or two false
alarms, however, were given, and I was one night awakened by
the cry that he was coming, and after passing a few hours, not in
apprehension I must say, but in expectation of a bustle, it
dwindled to the alarming appearance of two fishing canoes with
lights in them, which were thought to approach too near to the
town. The second alarm was occasioned by the principal dike
giving way, and letting the water flow over the greater part of the
island : most of the inhabitants were ignorant of what had
happened, but on hearing the bugle sound for all the liberated
Africans, or King’s boys, to turn out, and seeing Captain Findlay,
attended by two other officers, gallopping at their head, toward a
distant part of the island, the commotion became general, and
most of the black people deserted their houses, snatching up their
valuables, and were met in all directions, squalling and crying,
and running they knew not whither. I suspect his African
Majesty has no objection to this terror, as he hopes by it to get
an additional share of rum and cloth, to bribe him to tranquillity.
NARRATIVE.
213
CHAPTER III.
Balckoio. — Government- House. — Town. — Watering Place. — Alcade.
— Vegetation. — A rabic.
I MADE an excursion to Bakkow, or Cape St. Mary’s, the
extreme southern point of the main land at the river’s mouth, and
was very much struck with the healthiness and superiority of its
situation : a house has been built there for convalescent officers,
who seldom fail to regain their strength, after a short residence in
it. It is exposed to every sea breeze, and sheltered from the winds
which blow during the rains. It is of such considerable elevation,
even above the town, that all the water must run from it during
that season. The soil about it is composed of, what appeared to
me to be, red ochreous earth, and covered with a thin layer of sand,
probably drifted there by the wind, but it is better a little way
from the sea. The only objection is the distance from the
spring, which is perhaps a mile from the house; probably, this
might be remedied at a considerable expense, by boring a well ;
but a couple of St. Jago asses could easily carry all the water
daily required by a large family.
For commercial purposes, this place would certainly not answer,
as there is too much difficulty in getting to it ; and its immediate
neighbourhood would not afford a sufficient trade : added to this,
during a strong wind, or a high tide, the surf beats too violently
•214
NARRATIVE.
against the shore to allow a boat to approach, and I have known
people, after reaching the spot, obliged to turn back without
landing.
I went with a party by land, and through the bush, or forest,
which presented beautiful groups of picturesque trees, and con¬
volvuli hanging luxuriantly from one to another. We reached the
first creek, which is of considerable width, and separates Banjole
from the continent. A canoe went across to swim our horses, two
at a time, and was ferried by the discharged soldiers, who reside
in huts on the bank; we then proceeded ourselves, and re¬
mounting rode along a flat country to the second creek, where,
sheltering ourselves among the mangroves, we waited for a canoe
which had been appointed to meet us. Mounting a huge
monkey-bread tree, we fired a gun two or three times, which
served the double purpose of frightening the crocodiles, and calling
the canoe. The entrance to our hiding place was so deep and
narrow, that the grooms were obliged to swim and guide the
horses. Having all crossed in safety, we again started for
JBakkow, and arrived, after as many interruptions as eight miles
could well afford.
We remained at the above place one night, which allowed of a
visit to the town, consisting of miserable-looking huts, crowded
together, filled with smoke, and some not high enough for a
middle-sized person to stand upright in1. The granaries are
mingled with the huts, and the doors fastened with a clumsy
wooden bolt, fig. 57, not deserving the name of a lock, and raised on
poles, to prevent the encroachments of ants, and other insects.
The hall of justice, or palaver house, is higher than the others,
with two arched entrances, but w ould not contain more than ten
people sitting close together : it is built of the red earth of the
‘See PL. 11, drawn from the Veranda of the Government-House.
s
“■ m. one nr 'v sic
■
NARRATIVE.
215
neighbourhood, and a passage from the Koran is inscribed over
each door. The mosque is one of the worst huts in the town.
The watering-place, or spring, looking like a muddy pool, is at
the back of the town. We approached it by a path cut through
the small wood that surrounds it, and which entirely excluded the
light of the full moon. It was perfectly still, and the enormous
monkey-bread trees ( Adansonia digitata) threw their large arms
over the lower ones, as if to protect them and the source to which
they perhaps owed their massy grandeur. I did all in my power
to frighten my female companion, to whom the sound of a wild
beast was perfectly new, by rustling the trees close to her, and
suggesting the probable attendance of a ferocious escort, not
imagining there was so much truth in my pretended fears, for a
panther, who was killed on the spot a few nights afterwards, was
roaming round the neighbourhood.
Every town has its Alcade or Governor, always subject to the
reigning King, who at all interviews demands a present in behalf
of his sovereign, and another for himself. The old Alcade at
Bakkow, was one of the most rapacious of his tribe, and although
he had already received a handsome present, for granting per¬
mission to build a cooking-house, and form a garden close to
the Government-House, he attended at the measurement of the land
to secure another ; and on its being laid out, and marked for
railing-in the next morning, he re-appeared to dispute every inch,
in the hope of further extortion. The deposed prince of Barra
paid us a visit, who was a fine powerful man in appearance, but
extremely forward in deportment, and surrounded by the filthiest
black children I ever saw. It is the custom of the country, when
a King dies, to change the capital, or rather, every town in the
kingdom becomes capital in turn, and its chief Sovereign and
great care is always taken of that next in succession. The
above prince, thinking he was more powerful than the lawful
216
NARRATIVE.
successor, tried to secure the throne out of his turn, but being
defeated, was obliged to throw himself upon the kindness of the
Alcade at Bakkow, both for safety and maintenance.
The Bun trees ( coryplia minor ?) at Bakkow are numerous, and
their tall, straight trunks, without branches, form a beautiful
contrast to the monkey-bread trees in their immediate vicinity.
One of the latter had fallen down, and the cattle browzing on the
plain had found nooks in its rugged trunk, which effectually
sheltered them from sun and wind. Nothing conveys so complete
an idea of the vast extent, the primitiveness, the solemn grandeur
of African scenery, as these stupendous masses of wood ; they seem
to have been created to shade some race of giants now swept from
the face of the earth, and to be left as monuments of the might
of those who are passed away. There are some very fine coral
trees, with their clusters of brilliant scarlet blossoms, and the
whole vegetation is very luxuriant, but not owing much to
cultivation u.
u A Committee having been formed by Quakers, for the promotion of civilization in
Africa, some of the members arrived at Bathurst while I was there. The plan was
to induce a wish for education and improvement, by first trying to make the Africans
sensible of the benefits that would accrue to them from a knowledge of agriculture,
manufactures, reading, writing, and arithmetic ; to establish, in the commencement, a
habit of attention, decency, and cleanliness ; particularly to avoid presents of spiritous’
liquors, and not to insist upon any change of religion. They had intended forming
a colony at Bakkow, and certainly, if any thing of the kind can succeed in Africa,
their patient perseverance, their mild and quiet doctrines, their liberal support, their
exemplary lives, serving as models, and their hearty zeal in the cause, must have ensured
their labours a favourable result. An elderly lady, and a young one, accompanied
by two gentlemen, and two educated blacks, had both come out, though possessing
ample means and comforts at home, to see what could be done by future visitors or
settlers. Nothing could exceed their activity; the younger lady undertook to open
a school, and I was astonished at her patience and firm perseverance. Her ex¬
cellent temper, and her zeal, made her even happy under privations, and a task, of
all others the most irksome, and which would have ruined the health and enjoyment
NARRATIVE.
217
We returned to Bathurst by the beach, and taking advantage
of the low tide, were able to ride across the second creek, (the
water being only up to our horse’s knees) and thereby lessened the
difficulties of the path. To those who ride on horseback, the
neighbourhood of Bathurst is very easy of access. Frequent
shooting parties are made by the gentlemen there, who generally
find deer, hares, partridges, pigeons, and guinea-fowls for their
sport, and certainly, if it were more healthy, sufficient amusement
might be found to render the place agreeable ; at low tide the
beach is firm enough to ride on, and has even served for a race
course.
The little specimens of Arabic literature in the Appendix, were
supplied me by Dongo Kary, a native of Senegal, and a learned
Marrabout : the originals x prove, that the western dialect ap¬
proaches nearer to the learned Arabic, than the eastern ; the
character is somewhat different, but not sufficiently so to cause
any great difficulty: we understood our Marrabout quite well, and
his pronunciation always accorded with the spelling of the word ;
his accent was not difficult to acquire, and his Ghrain was much
less guttural than that of the Orientalists.
My readers will easily perceive, from the foregoing little sketch,
the difference of customs, the striking inferiority of the in¬
habitants of this part of Africa, to those north and east of the
leeward coast. Mr. Bowdich’s “ Mission to A slum tee” is a detail
of most women. I am indeed grieved to state, that although the ladies have returned
in safety, the gentlemen have both become victims to the fever, but I earnestly trust,
that the Committee will not even now be discouraged, but will make a second trial in
a situation which affords a better chance for life.
1 1 have been deterred from publishing these originals, from the necessity of having
a new type, an expense I could by no means afford, and which would be scarcely
worth while for the trifles I have collected ; I have, however, drawn the different
characters in lithography, and can supply any one who wishes for them, with a
large collection of phrases.
2 h
218
NARRATIVE.
of splendour and bravery, accompanied by shrewdness, reflection,
and ingenuity, a polish of manner, a taste for arts, and a dexterity
of manufacture, shewing an advancement that astonishes us in a
people called barbarous.
Whence can this difference arise ? Not from their natural pro¬
ductions. The same metals, the same superb vegetation, the same
soil, the same climate, exist in both countries. Not from their
religion, for what can be more luxurious or splendid than the
Musselmen of the East. Not from their greater intercourse with
strangers, for there the Mandingoes would have the' advantage.
Is it not then a further proof of the Egyptian origin of the
Ashantees, suggested by Mr. Bowdich in his Essay on their
superstitions, <^cy. — a fact which would satisfactorily account for
their greater progress towards civilization.
y Essay on the Superstitions, Customs, and Arts common to the ancient Egyptians,
Abyssinians, and Ashantees, &c., by T. Edward Bowdich, Esq., Conductor of the
Mission to Ashantee, &c. &c. Paris, 1821.
APPENDIX.
2 F 2
ZOOLOGY.
I WAS only fortunate enough to procure one monkey, though these
animals abound at Banjole, and on the neighbouring continent, it was
a variety of the Simia Sabcea, (Lin.) When young, they are of a grayish-
brown, but become yellow with age. I saw a very large and ferocious
one at a distance, which I think was the Simia Sphynx ; and I heard of
numbers, marked in a manner wholly unknown ; such as a brown body,
and a very long tail, with black and white rings.
The small bat of the Gambia belongs to the first tribe of the division
Pteropus. It measures, from the end of the muzzle to the tip of the tail,
three inches ; and from the tip of one wing to the tip of the other, eight
inches and a half. The interfemoral membrane is triangular, and reaches
to within two lines of the end of the tail. The oreillettes are short and
small. It has six small incisors in the lower jaw, and two with very
sharp points in the upper. The upper canines reach to the base of the
lower canines, and the interval between them and the incisors, is occu¬
pied by a wart within the upper lip. The head is flat and shallow, and
the whole is of a brown colour.
The stuffed skin of a species of sorex was submitted to our inspection.
It was of a gray colour. The tail, which was sub-cylindrical, had only
a few scattered hairs upon it, and was two inches and a half long. The
body was six inches and a half, and the skin smelt strongly of musk.
We at the same time procured the Viverra Zorilla.
We purchased a very interesting little beast for a dollar, whose loss I
particularly lament, as he seemed to be quite unknown in Europe. His
mouth was so small, that Mr. Bowdich could not examine his teeth while
222
APPENDIX.
living, and purposed killing him, but I pleaded so earnestly for his life,
that he was spared till we ascertained the probability of finding a second.
During this interval Mr. Bow'dich was seized with fever, and I had no
time or thought for my pet, who one day wandered on to the common,
and was bitten by a wild cat. He contrived to crawl up stairs to me,
and lay himself down at my feet ; I tried every thing I could think of to
recover him, but his spine was broken, and he died very shortly after.
I put him into a jar of rum, covered him close, and left him for some
weeks, at the end of which time, desirous of ascertaining his preserva¬
tion, I opened the jar, and found that the black boys had drank all the
rum, and that my precious specimen was destroyed by vermin. I still
hoped to preserve the skeleton, but an officious servant threw it into the
river during my absence. This animal was about the size of a small
cat, and of a dark gray colour. His fur was very fine, soft, and long;
his snout, which was red, was like that of a pig; his ears black, and
resembled those of a monkey; his teeth referred him to the family of
Carnivora, and his feet, and method of walking, to the group Plantigrada.
He took up every thing which he ate with his fore paws, and he did not
lap when drinking. He was remarkably docile and affectionate, and
suffered my children to pull him about without offering to bite them ;
he leaped from great heights without fear ; he caught rats like a dog,
and he followed those he knew everywhere. He constantly accom¬
panied us to dinner at the officer’s quarters, and when I desisted going,
in consequence of Mr. Bowdich’s illness, he went by himself, regularly
coming back in the evening to sleep. He loved warmth, and was very
impatient of confinement, biting the strong wires of the cage, into which
we first put him, so close together that he could slip through the
aperture. He had no unpleasant smell, but was very partial to wallow¬
ing in every thing wet and dirty. He was a native of Kasimanse. The
wild cats who destroyed him, belong to the genus Genetta, and are very
numerous, even in the town.
I did not hear of any hyaenas, (which abound at Cape Coast) but there
are a great many panthers on the main land, though report says there
are none in Banjole. I saw several skins, all of which had that
appearance, by which we can instantly pronounce them to come from
ZOOLOGY.
223
Africa, viz., the close rows of small roses, the very deep orange of the
ground, and the peculiar richness and beauty of ihe fur.
The store-houses are overrun with the mice and rats of Europe.
Hares are numerous at Bakkow, where there is a considerable portion
of open ground ; they are smaller than those of Europe, but do not
appear to have any other difference.
The elephants confine themselves to the interior, and if we may judge
from the size of the teeth brought to Bathurst, they are small in com¬
parison to those further south. The hippopotami are so abundant, as
frequently to make it dangerous to pass the river in a boat.
I was informed, that at a little distance up the country, wild boars,
deer, and antelopes, are to be seen every day. The rhinoceroses are
less frequent. I have already mentioned the breed of horses, (p. *211.)
The native oxen have the bunch of fat between the shoulders common
to the cattle of Torrid Zones.
224
APPENDIX.
Vultur percuopterus ? Gmeltn. Rachamah, Bruce. Falco biden-
tatus, Lin.
Aquila.
Wings longer than the tail ; head, neck, breast, belly, upper part of
the scapularies, and tectrices of the wings, and ends of the remiges of the
tail, and feathers of the half-feathered tarsi, white. The rest of the
plumage black.
Harpyia — Cuvier.
Head and neck white; body brown, speckled with a darker colour;
breast brown, speckled with white ; the ends of the remiges approach
to black ; nostrils very oblique. The head of the young bird is brown.
alco Occipitalis, Daud. Huppart, Vail: Bruce.
Astur.
The whole bird of a dusky brown, with bands of a darker colour,
which bands are very indistinct on the back; the remiges are nearly
black. The belly and thighs are pale brown, with a reddish tinge.
From the tip of one wing to the tip of the other, or envergure, feet.
Length from the base of the beak to the tip of the tail, 1 foot 8 inches.
1. Lanius, proper.
Head, throat, half of the breast, back, tail, scapularies, and tectrices,
of a brilliant ruby-colour, shaded with violet; remiges of wings and
tail, of a deep brown ; belly, white ; length, 6g inches. The plumage
of the female is a speckled brown. This bird comes to Mandinari
(about 11 miles up the River Gambia) only in May, and quits it in June.
2. Lanius — Division Plumatae, Bowdich.
Throat, belly, and breast, of a brilliant scarlet. Back and tail of a
dark gray, approaching to black ; breast and head of a yellowish olive.
ZOOLOGY.
225
3. Lanius — Division Plumatse.
Head, crest, throat, belly, and under pen feathers of the tail, white ;
back, wings, and upper part of the tail, black. Two of the pens in each
wing have a broad rim of white.
4. Lanius, approaching to Turdns.
Head yellow, with a black stripe on each side ; throat, breast, and
belly, of a bright scarlet; wings, back, and tail, black ; the upper part of
the latter has a greenish tinge.
Tanagra — Sub-division Loriots, Cuv.
The upper mandible a little more elongated than usual. Top of the head
white, speckled with black; upper part of back and wings black; lower
part, tail, throat, and belly, of a reddish-brown.
1. Muscicapa — Division Tyrannus, Cuv.
No hairs at the base of the beak ; head and back of an ashy hue ; throat
and belly, pale brown, wings and tail of an ashy brown ; wings mottled
with a lighter shade, and each pen edged with the same pale tint.
Envergure 10 inches. It is said to feed constantly on carrion.
2. Muscicapa — Division Muscipeta, Cuv.
Head, throat, belly, under part of tail, tectrices, and upper part of
remiges, of a pale verdigris green, slightly tinged with azure ; scapu-
laries of a brilliant azure ; a patch of azure at the bottom of the back,
which is of a reddish brown ; the long pens of the tail, green and black ;
lower part of the remiges of the wing, azure and black.
3. Muscicapa proper, Cuv.
Head, throat, back, breast, belly, and under pen feathers of the tail, of a
deep brilliant yellow ; a black patch round the eye ; wings black,
tipped with yellow ; upper pens of the tail, black. From 8 to 10
inches long.
296
APPENDIX.
4. Muscicapa proper, Cuv.
The whole bird of a dark gray colour, the throat and belly are tinged
with blue, the wings are very dark, and the under pens of the tail are
tipped with white. It is the size of an English blackbird.
Turdus.
This bird is like the common thrush, but there are a few hairs at the
base of the beak, the fissure of which extends under the eye.
Gracula.
The martin of the Gambia has a very dark green back, belly, wings, and
tail ; a grey head, a white patch at the bottom of the back, and an ash-
coloured throat.
Alauda Africana, Gmel.
Pyrgita, Cuv.
The head and belly are black ; the throat, breast, and tail, of a brilliant
scarlet ; the wings brown. It is the size of a tit-mouse.
Cocothraustes, Cuv.
Upper mandible yellow; lower mandible scarlet. The head is of a
dark ash-colour; the back and wings are pale brown; the upper feathers
of the tail crimson ; the under feathers brown. Throat, breast, and
belly, of a pale-ash colour, lower part of the latter tinged with scarlet.
A brilliant orange patch under each eye. Length 4 inches.
Icterus.
Head and throat, yellow ; tinged with brown ; back brown ; belly ash
coloured ; wings brown, edged with yellow ; tail the same as the
wings.
ZOOLOGY.
227
1. Colaris, Cuv.
Head, back, wings, and tail, of a pale brown; belly ash-coloured,
tinged with yellow.
. 0
Promerops, Brisson.
The whole bird of a dark-green colour, with a brilliant metallic lustre,
except the belly, which is black, and the throat, which is mottled with
brown. The under pens of the wings and tail have each a broad irre¬
gular band of white near the tips ; legs red. The plumage of this bird
approaches it to the Colibris, but its beak is not sufficiently arched for
it to belong to that genus.
1. Nectarinia, Illig.
The head, back, wings, and tail, are of an ashy brown ; the belly white ;
the throat light brown ; and the beak yellow.
2. Nectarinia.
The head violet and azure ; the throat, belly, and tail, azure, tinged with
violet; the wings and back are of a dark yellow-green. The whole
bird has a brilliant metallic lustre.
Colibris, Cuv. Trochilus, LactpWe.
The head of a brilliant metallic-green, and a patch of the same colour
underneath the base of the beak. Throat and breast scarlet, mottled
with a dark metallic green ; back and belly dark brown ; tail and
wings light brown.
1. Alcedo, Lin.
The throat, breast, and belly, are of a dazzling white ; the wings are
speckled with green and brown ; the crest, head, and back, are green,
speckled with white. A white band passes from the nostril to behind
the eye. The under pens of the wings are white, with dark-green bands.
2 G 2
228
APPENDIX.
2. Alcedo.
The beak is scarlet ; the crest of a bright pale blue, striped across with
narrow bands of black ; head, back, wings, and tail, are of a brilliant
azure ; the throat is white, and the belly of a light-brown.
A variety of the above had a crest of azure and black, and the sides of
the head were of a bright violet, but was in all other respects marked in
the same manner. The former is also found in great numbers, near the
salt pond, behind Cape Coast.
3. Alcedo. .
The upper mandible is scarlet, the lower black ; the head, throat,
breast, and belly, ash-coloured ; the back, upper pen feathers of the
tail, and the lower parts of the pens of the wings, of a beautiful dark
blue, mixed with a slight tinge of green ; outer scapularies black ; inner
scapularies white.
4. Alcedo.
The top of the head black, with small azure spots ; the cheeks of a warm
orange-brown. A few azure feathers descend from the commissure toward
the throat. Breast and throat, of the same colour as the cheeks ; back
black, spotted with the most brilliant azure ; tail black, slightly tinged
with azure; scapularies and tectrices black, spotted with azure ; remi-
ges black and brown ; the inner scapularies are of an orange-brown ;
legs red.
Buceros, Lin.
The prominence of the beak only reaches to a quarter of its length,
where it abruptly terminates ; the plumage is entirely black, except
under the wings, where it is white.
Picus, Lin.
The head is scarlet ; the back, wings, and tail, of a pale brown ; there
are a few scarlet feathers at the bottom of the back ; belly and throat
ash-coloured.
ZOOLOGY.
229
Pogonias, Illig.
Head, back, wings, and tail, of a raven black ; a white patch on the
middle of the back ; throat of a bright crimson ; belly mottled with
crimson and white.
Psittacus, Lin. Parrakeet, Cuv.
Corythaix Paulina.
Also found at Sierra Leone. It has a very loud cry.
Numida Meleagris.
Perdix Senegalus.
Columbia, Lin.
The head, throat, and breast, are of a pale yellow-green; back and
wings, gray, tinged with green ; tail gray ; each of the tectrices have a
yellow rim ; the inner pens are of a reddish brown.
Struthio Camelus, Lin.
1. Ardea Pavonia, Lin.
2. Ardea.
3. Ardea Dubia, Gmel. Ardea Algala, Lath.
Ciconia, Cuv.
Head, breast, and belly, white ; scapularies and tectrices of wings white,
with bands of reddish violet, toward the end of the feathers ; remiges
of wings and tail of a very dark yellow-green ; back white, tinged with
violet; the tarsi are reticulated, and of a yellow colour.
Mycteria, Lin.
Upper and lower mandible both curved ; a membranous skin descends
fiom the forehead just above the eye, and covers the upper mandible for
230
APPENDIX.
3| inches; one third of the upper mandible is black, and two thirds of
the lower red ; feathers of the head and neck black ; the swelling of
the neck, as well as the breast, belly, and one-third of the back, is white ;
scapularies white ; the rest of the bird black ; the tarsi have hexagonal,
reticular scales ; feet black, with the exception of some light shades of
red on the metatarsus. Length of beak, 1 foot ; of head and neck, 1 1
foot; of body, to the end of the tail, 2 feet ; legs, 2 feet 2 inches.
Scopus Umbretta.
1. Ibis.
Tarsi, with hexagonal scales, answering in every respect to Cuvier’s
description of the Ibis Rel (Tantalus iEthiopicus, Lath.): excepting, that
the upper mandible surpasses the lower, the eighth part of an inch.
2. Ibis.
Top of the beak red ; belly, head, neck, and upper part of the back, ash-
coloured ; scapularies of a dark metallic-green ; tectrices of an olive
brown ; remiges and tail with an azure tinge.
3. Ibis.
Head, upper part, and sides of neck, of a very dark brown, speckled
with white ; under part of neck white ; upper parts of the remiges of
the wings of the same colour as the head. The rest of the bird white.
Numenius, Cuv.
Jacana, Briss. Parra, Lin.
The talons remarkably long; throat, breast, and belly, yellow; a. black
stripe descends from under each eye, they join each other on the throat
and look like a necklace ; head, back, wings, and tail, of a light brown,
mottled with a darker colour; each pen feather ot the wings has a
yellow edge ; length 9 inches. The spur on the wing is scarcely per¬
ceptible.
7by CJTu&rtuauiUl/
ZOOLOGY.
231
Phenicopterus, Lin.
Larus, Lin.
] . Pelecanus, Lin.
2. Pelecanus Bassanus, Lin. Sula, Briss.
Anas Gambensis, Lin.
I presume that some of the above species have never yet been described,
but I by no means flatter myself with having made any very important
discoveries. I had no means of determining the specific names of the
greater number, and have therefore minutely detailed all the observations
I was able to make, for the assistance of others. Those genera which
are neither followed by the name of the species, nor by any remarks,
were only seen at too great a distance to note the minutiae of their
plumage.
232
APPENDIX.
Testudo Mydas, Lin.
Crocodilus.
The long muzzle (swelled at the base) of the crocodile of the Gambia
certainly approached it to that of St. Domingo, but I did not sufficiently
examine it to decide on its species. I purchased one during Mr. Bowdich’s
illness, at his request, but it died and was thrown away, before I even
thought of inquiring for it.
Of the numerous lizards running in all directions, within and without
the houses, I only noted one, of the head of which I made a drawing,
fig. 56. The genus Agama is distinguished by the projecting scales of
various parts of the body, and especially near the ears, sometimes in
groupes, sometimes isolated. I should therefore think, that my lizard
was a new species of this genus, as the groups of scales were inserted upon
fleshy tubercles : the scales of the tail projected. It was one foot long,
of a yellowish-brown, slightly tinged with azure on the back ; a yellow
stripe was on each side of this brown band, then a brown stripe speckled
with white and black, which was succeeded by a buff stripe speckled
with white ; the legs were brown, speckled with white. I heard nothing
of the Iguanas which abound at the Isles de Los ; of those large, dark
gray lizards, with enormous orange crests, which I have so often seen at
Cape Coast ; or of the Camelions, brought to me in such numbers while
on the River Gabon.
The forests of Mandingo are filled with snakes of various kinds, but I
only saw that which abounds at Banjole, occasionally coming into the
houses, and said to be very venomous. It belonged to the genus Vipera,
and was 4 feet 6 inches long ; it was of a brown colour, with a narrow
yellowish stripe in the middle of the back, and a light indistinct stripe on
each side. The belly was of a pale yellow.
T"'.
-
-ppxv'uyyn^r _ _ _ _
ZOOLOGY.
233
Squalus Carcharias?
I had no opportunity of examining the numerous sharks of the Gambia,
and neighbouring ocean, but they appeared to be of the species common
to all seas.
Tetraodon Laevissimus, Bowd., fig. 18.
This new species of Linnaeus’s genus Tetraodon has no spines, nor any
visible branchial orifice. The back and sides are of a beautiful rose-
colour, irregularly marked with a deep black ; the belly is of a fleshy
hue, and the lips are red; the pectoral fin has 13 rays, and the anal,
dorsal, and caudal fins, each 7 rays. It is found at Porta Praya, in the
Island of St. Jago.
Balistes Radiata, Bowd., fig. 45.
The ventral fin of this species seems to be more decided than that of
any yet known, and probably classes it with the sub-genus Triacanthus
of Cuvier. Its distinct rays, 8 in number, and its very strong spine,
have so positive an appearance, that we with difficulty admit the generic
character of having no ventrals. There are two small spines, and a very
strong one, in the first dorsal fin, the lower part of which is rayed with
blue ; the second dorsal has 27 rays, six of which are considerably
prolonged beyond the membraneous part of the fin, they are of a yellow
colour, and the rest of the fin is spotted with yellow. The caudal fin
has 12 branching rays, the pectoral 13, and the anal 25; the latter is of
a blue colour, spotted with brown ; the body of the fish is gray, spotted
with black, and lighter towards the belly. There are two large orange
patches, and one white spot behind the pectoral fin ; 14 rays of a bright
lilac encircle the front of the eye, and there are two rays of the same
colour in the iris ; three rows of small scales cover the bottom of the
second dorsal and anal fins : the teeth are disposed in the manner
represented in fig. 45, b. Found at Porta Praya.
Hippocampus.
I only saw a dried specimen, which was too carelessly preserved for me
to determine the species, but it was of a considerable size.
2 H
234
APPENDIX.
Clupea Fimbriata, new species, Bowd., fig. 44.
I have given it this specific name, because every scale is fringed, which
makes the fish have a very peculiar appearance. The dorsal fin has 16
rays, the ventral 19, and the pectoral 5 ; the back is of a brilliant azure,
the sides are of a pale yellow, and the belly is silvery ; the caudal and
anal fins are of a deep yellow. Found at Porta Praya.
Esox Belone, Lin.
Exocetus.
I did not see any near enough to examine, but they appeared to be very
small.
Pimelodus Gambensis, new species, Bowd., fig. 50.
This fish had been long out of the water when we saw it, so that we
could only ascertain the existence of the dentated spine of the first
dorsal, and of the pectoral fin ; and that the second dorsal and anal fins
were fleshy. The head, as far as the nape of the neck, was shagreened;
there were but few visible scales, and the whole body was of a dull
grayish-brown, approaching to black upon the back. It had six
barbillons, and was found in the Gambia.
Pleuronectes, Lin. Solea, Cuv. Gambia.
Labrus Iagonensis, new species, Bowd., fig. 47.
Four large teeth project from the front of the upper jaw, behind which
is a row en velours; the lower jaw has a single row of small, sharp, and
regular teeth ; the dorsal fin has 25 rays, the pectoral 18, the ventral 8,
the anal 14, and the caudal 12 ; the preoperculum is radiated, and the
operculum deeply scalloped ; the whole fish is of a brilliant red. Found
at Porta Praya and in the Gambia.
Julis Squami-marginatus, new species, Bowd., fig. 53.
Every scale of this fish has a thin edge to it; there is one row of small,
sharp, irregular teeth in each jaw ; the dorsal fin has 9 spines, and 9
SJJnrXuJi del cl'htkog
ZOOLOGY.
235
rays; the pectoral 13, the ventral 7, and the anal 3 spines and 7 rays ;
the whole fish is silvery, tinged with brown and red, like a carp, except
on the belly, where it is orange ; the fins and lips are red. It inhabits
the River Gambia.
Coryphaena Novacula, Lin.
Found at Bona Vista and St. Jago.
Chromis Triacantha, new species, Bowd., fig. 52.
So named from the three spines of its ventral fin; the dorsal fin has 15
spines, and 1 1 rays ; the ventral has 9 rays, besides its 3 spines ; the
whole fish is of a silvery gray, except the fins, which are orange. Found
in the Gambia.
Sparus Sargus, Lin. Bona Vista.
Sparus Chromis, Lin. Bona Vista.
Dentex Unispinosus, new species, Bowd., fig. 42.
So called from the single free spine in front of the dorsal fin, which has
besides 21 rays ; the pectoral has 12, the ventral 6, the bases of which
are covered with a large scale ; the anal has 4 spines and 8 rays, and
the caudal 20 rays ; bands of small scales pass across the head ; the
pre-operculum is radiated, and there are 7 small sharp teeth, wide apart
in front of each jaw, and on each side of the jaws is a row en velours ;
the whole fish is silvery, slightly tinged with red. Porta Praya.
Dentex Diplodon, new species, Bowd., fig. 46.
The teeth of this new species of Dentex are small and iri’egular, and set
in a double row, the inner row of which is the longest ; the dorsal fin
has 16 rays and 10 spines, the pectoral 15 rays, the ventral 5 rays and 1
spine, the anal 10 rays and 3 short spines, and the caudal has 15 rays ;
the whole body of the fish is of a dark silvery gray, with a yellow spot
just above the operculum ; the fins are yellow, tinged with red. Porta
Praya.
2 H 2
•236
APPENDIX.
Mugil Bispinosus, new species, Bowd., fig. 38.
The lower part of the upper lip is set with small teeth, en velours ; the
first dorsal fin is composed of 4 strong spines, the second has 2 spines
and 7 rays, the caudal 14 rays, the pectoral 13, the ventral 6, and the
anal 10 ; the fish is silvery with 8 black stripes; the lateral line is not
visible. Bona Vista.
Bodianus Punctatus. Perea Punctata, Bloch. Porta Praya.
Bodianus Maculatus, new species, Bowd., fig. 39.
There are numerous sharp-pointed, irregular teeth in each jaw ; the
dorsal fin has 11 spines and 16 rays, the caudal 14 rays, the anal 2 spines
and 10 rays, the ventral 1 spine and 4 rays, the pectoral 16 rays; the
pre-operculum is entire, and the operculum has 2 flat spines within the
edge ; the whole fish is white, speckled with black ; the scales are very
indistinct. Bona Vista.
Pristipoma Humilis, new species, Bowd., fig. 40.
The forehead of this species has butlitlle elevation; its teeth are en velours;
the pre-operculum is finely dentated, the operculum is entire ; the dorsal
fin has 13 spines and 14 rays, the caudal 18 rays, the anal 2 spines (one
very short) and 8 rays, and the ventral 1 spine and 5 rays ; the fins and
tail are of a pale yellow, the rest of the fish is silvery ; two rows of small
scales cover the base of the ventral fin. St. Jago and Bona Vista.
Scisena Elongata, new species, Bowd., fig. 43.
This species bears very closely upon the Sciaena Levistomus of Cuvier,
but the spines of the dorsal fin are much stronger, and the body is con¬
siderably elongated ; the dorsal fin has 1 1 spines, the first of which is very
short, and 34 rays ; the anal 1 short, and 1 very broad, flat spine, and 6
rays ; the colour is a silvery gray tinged with yellow, and the fins are
yellow. Porta Praya.
Sciaena Dux, new species, Bowd., fig. 54.
I have thus named it, from its being distinguished by the natives of the
ZOOLOGY.
237
River Gambia, where it abounds, as the captain fish, and where it is much
esteemed for the table. There are 4 or 5 small teeth in the front of the
upper jaw, the teeth of the lower are en velours ; the dorsal fin has 9
strong spines and 29 rays, the caudal 18 rays, the anal 1 spine and 7
rays, the ventral 1 spine and 7 rays, and the pectoral 1 spine and 16
rays; the body of the fish is silvery, with an azure tinge on the back, and
a red tint near the tail ; the anal fin is red, the ventral yellow, and the
rest are gray ; the scales of the head are indistinct, but those of the
body are very large ; the lateral line is prolonged to the end of the
caudal fin. Gambia.
18_. Vomer Brownii, Cuv. St. Jago and Gambia.
19. Lichia Tetracantha, new species, Bowd., fig. 49.
The teeth are en velours ; the pre-operculum is radiated at the edge, and
the operculum is slightly undulated ; there are 4 short strong spines in
front of the dorsal fin, to each of which is attached a membrane, so as to
give it the appearance of a very small fin ; the rest of the fin has 25 rays,
the caudal 20, the anal 24, with 2 short spines, the pectoral 14; the
scales are scarcely visible ; the whole fish has a bright silvery appear¬
ance, tinged with a beautiful deep blue. St. Jago and the Gambia.
Fig. 41 and 51 are new genera, both belonging to Cuvier’s division
Acanthopterygiens, the first part of the dorsal fin being supported by
spines, and the anal having one or more spines ; they approach nearest
to the third family, or the Labroides, from the strength of the spines, and
the fleshy lips, but I am at a loss to class them further.
Fig. 51, which I have distinguished by the name of Anomalodon incisus,
has a row of teeth en carde in the upper, and a broad confused band of the same
in the lower jaw ; the dorsal fin has 1 1 strong spines, 3 of which are shorter
than the rest, and 15 rays; it is supported by a fleshy ridge; the ventral
has 3 spines and 10 rays ; the body is silvery, slightly tinged with yellow,
and speckled with gray; the back, head, and dorsal fin are gray, the
other fins are yellow ; the division between the spiny and soft part of
the dorsal is sloped almost to the base ; the opercula are entire ; the scales
are small, and the lateral line is formed of a ridge of very small pro¬
jections. Gambia.
238
APPENDIX.
The genus which I have called Diastodon Speciosus, Bowel., fig. 41,
has 4 strong irregular teeth very wide apart in each jaw ; the opercula are
entire; the dorsal fin has 12 spines and 8 rays; the pectoral 17 rays,
the anal 3 spines and 10 rays, the ventral 1 strong spine and 4 rays, and
the caudal 17 rays ; the lateral line is not visible ; the whole fish is of a
rose-colour, with shades of violet, which give it a very beautiful appear¬
ance. St. Jago.
Fig. 37 is also a new genus, for which I have preserved its native name
Seleima, formed of the Portuguese pronoun, se, and a corruption of the
noun leme, a helm, and to which I have added aurata, as a specific
appellation, from the golden hue given by the 8 orange stripes. It
belongs to the second tribe, of the fourth family of Cuvier’s division,
Acanthopterygiens. There is a row of small teeth in each jaw; both
opercula are entire; the dorsal fin has 10 spines and 17 rays, the pecto¬
ral 14 rays, the anal 3 spines and 14 rays, the ventral 1 free spine, 1 ad¬
hering, and 5 rays ; the caudal 20 rays ; the whole fish is silvery, with 8
orange stripes ; the lateral line runs along the third stripe.- Bona Vista.
A fourth new genus, Amorphocephalus Granulatus, fig. 36, belongs to
the fourth tribe, of the same family and division as the preceding. It
has 4 strong teeth, set widely apart in the upper jaw; the lower jaw has
also 4 strong teeth, but the 2 middle teeth curve, and touch each other
at the points ; the dorsal fin has 9 spines and 1 1 branching rays, and is
supported by a granulated fleshy ridge ; the pectoral fin has 16 rays, the
ventral 5 and 1 spine, the anal 12 and 1 spine, and the caudal has 16
rays ; the head is very ugly and mis-shapen ; the body is of a violet colour,
and the head and fins are of a rose colour. Bona Vista.
All the above fishes, with the exception of the squalus, the tetraodon,
the balistes, and the pimelodus, are eaten, but the scisena dux, or captain
fish, is reckoned the best. The sharks of the River Gambia are numerous,
but not feared by the natives, for they bathe in the river at all times :
they stand much more in dread of a crocodile, which sometimes snaps
off a limb. There are a great many beautiful looking fish in the above-
mentioned river, and I was very anxious, during the latter part of my
stay at Bathurst, to procure them ; but the inhabitants could not catch
me any, because they had no nets, and materials for making them were
not to be found in the settlement.
SJJowdicA deZeZ fatfoo 7k»deZ'fy 62EiZlnui*ufol/
ZOOLOGY.
239
The pier rock of Bona Vista was characterized by Vermes, and the
Spondylus gaederopus : in the grit rock we found the Cassis testiculus,
the same Spondylus as in the pier rock, several species of Fissurella and
Patella, and immense quantities of the bones of Asteriae. Imbedded in
the sand, were the Cassis testiculus, the Area senilis, the Cerithium
obelisticus, the Bulla striata, a Conus, a Buccinum, a Chama, and a
Purpura. In the tufa, we met with the Area senilis, the Mactra alba, a
Cerithium, a Modiola, and Vermes, all thinly scattered ; but there was a
very rich deposit in a conglomerate of sand and lime, which abounded at
a little distance from the shore. It contained the Cerithium obelisticus,
the Cassis testiculus, the Bulla striata, a Natica, a Buccinum, a Conus, the
Area senilis, the Lucina Pennsylvanica, the Tellina lacunosa, a Cardium,
probably the isocardia, a Mactra, an alba? a Cypricardia? a Venus,
a Solen, and an Ostrea.
The shells which we found at St. Jago and the Gambia, were all in a
decidedly recent state, and are contained in the following list, and chiefly
named after Lamarck.
Sepia officinalis, Bona Vista.
Balanus tintinnabulum, Gambia.
,, porcatus? attached to the Scutella digitata, Gam.
Anatifera striata : Anatifa, Lamarck, Atlantic.
Pholas clausa. Gray, Gam.
Solen truncatus, Wood, Gam.
„ strigilatus, varietas. Gam. et B. V.
Mactra polita, Chemnitz, Gam.
Petricola guinaica. Gray, B. V.
Tellina lacunosa, B. V. and St. Jago.
,, nivea, Chemn., Gam.
Lucina squamosa, B. V.
,, Pennsylvanica, B. V.
Donax rugosa-, B. V. and Gam.
„ truncata, Gam.
240
APPENDIX.
Cytherea tripla, B. V.
„ cincta, var. B. V.
,, corbicula, B. V.
Venus verrucosa, B. V. and St. Jago.
Cardium ringens, B, V.
„ iEolicum, B. V.
„ costatum, Gam.
,, medium, Gam.
„ Isocardia, B. V.
Area Nose, B. V.
„ senilis, B. V.
Chama gryphoides, St. J.
Modiola castanea, Gray, Gam.
„ sulcata, Gam.
Mytilus achatinus, Gam.
Pinna semi-nuda ? Lam. B. V.
Perna vulsella, St. J.
Pecten pyxidatus, Chemn., St. J
,, varius ? Gam.
„ imbricatus, B. V.
,, amusium ? B. V.
„ gibbus, B. V.
Lima glacialis 1 B. V.
Spondylus gaederopus, B. V.
Ostrea — Gam.
,, cristola, Gam.
„ folium. Gam.
„ fucorum, B. V.
Siphonaria — Mouret, Blainville.
Patella mammillaris, Linnceus, B. V.
Fissurella rosea, var ? Gam.
,, graeca, Gam.
Pileopsis albida, Gray, Gam.
Calyptraea chinensis, Gray, Gam.
Crepidula porcellana, Gam.
ZOOLOGY.
211
Bulla ampulla, St. J.
„ striata, St. J.
Helix flammea, Mandingo.
Melania Gambensis, Bovodich, new species. Gam.
M. testa turrito-acuta, fragili tenuique, alba, striis transvetgis*
Phasianella angulifera, Mandingo.
Nerita striata, B. V.
Natica fulminea, B. V.
,, carnea, Gray , St. J.
,, rosea, Gray, B. V.
,, collaria ? B. V.
,, canrena, B. V.
,, collaris. Gray, B. V.
Turritella trisulcata, St. J.
„ - species imperfect, St. J.
„ - „ „ St. J.
_ _ .. „ St. J.
Monodonta fragroides? B. V.
Trochus, B. V.
Murex asperimus, St. J.
Triton undosum, B. V.
,, scobiculator, B. V.
Rostellaria fissurella, B. V.
Turbinella cingulata, B. V.
G'erithium granulatum, St. J. •
„ obelisticus. B. V.
,, muricatum. Gam.
,, aluco. Gam.
Harpa rosea, St. J.
Nassa reticulata, B. V.
„ lineolata, Gray, B. V.
„ conoidea, B. V.
* This elegant little shell abounds in every creek of the River Gambia, and with the patella*,
siphonaritE, fissurellae, calyptne, and fragments of larger shells, forms complete masses, which
bind the sand into hard flakes.
242
APPENDIX.
Purpura haraastoma, B. V.
„ Mancinella, B. V.
„ neritoides, B. V.
Cassis testiculus, B. V. and St. J.
Cyprsea zonata, Gray, B. V.
„ histrio, Gam.
„ Tigris, Gam.
,, vexillum, St. J.
,, lurida, Gam.
„ Caput Serpentis, Gam,
,, sanguinolentia, Gam.
,, Talpa, Gam.
,, occellata, B. V.
,, erosa, B. V.
„ gangrenosa, Diiuyn, Gam.
Oliva acuminata, Gam.
„ hiantula, Gam.
Voluta olla, Gam.
„ zebra, B. V.
„ cymbuim, G.
,, guinaica, G.
Marginella faba, St. J.
,, aurantia, St. J.
,, lineolata, Gray, St. J.
„ subcaerulea, B. V.
„ gibbosa, B. V.
„ punctulata, Gray, B. V.
Colombella - - B. V.
Strombus pugilis, B. V.
,, vittatus, B. V.
„ lobatus, B. V.
,, giganteus, B. Y.
Conus leoninus, B. V.
„ obesus, B. V.
ZOOLOGY.
243
Conus achatinus, B. V.
„ amadis, B. V.
,, nebulosus.
,, vittatus, B. V.
,, monachus, B. V.
,, Testudinarias, B. Vb.
Ovula gibbosa, B. V.
Echinus.
Scutella digitata.
b There were several other species of conus, but the shells were too much worn to allow
us to determine them.
2 1 S
244
BOTANY.
BONA VISTA.
Fucus'.
Kyllingia, new species'1?
Panicum sericeum, Hab. in Ind. Occidentali.
„ colonum, ,, India; cultis.
„ scabrum, „ Senegal.
Cenchrus echinatus, „ Americse et Barbar. arvis.
Zea mays, (cultivated.)
Asparagus (species imperfect.)
Polygonum salicifolium'?
Salsola sativa, Hab. in Hisp. australis maritimis.
f
Salicornia Caspica, Hab. in squalidis maris Caspici, &c.
,, Indica6 „ ad littera maris Tranquebar.
° This specimen was very old, and had been apparently laying on the beach a long time ;
it was black from exposure to air, ligneous, and full of small tubercles.
d Culmo cylindrico, involucro universale triphyllo, partiale monophyllo. Valvis capituli,
muticis.
c The natives call it Froolie, and use its blossoms, which are thickly covered with cotton,
for stuffing beds and cushions.
f Caule fruticoso, foliis cylindricis, minutis, alternis. This species is, probably, not new,
but I could not find it described either in Persoon or Willdenow.
6 This appears to be a small variety of that found at Tranquebar.
h This is used by the natives for making the black liquid with which they mark their salt
bags, and which they call morass.
BOTANY.
215
Melissa, (cultivated, species imperfect.)
Mentha, ( „ „ „ )
Marrubium crispum, Hab. in Hispania.
Datura meteP, Hab. in Asia, Africa, et Ins. Canariis.
Capsicum cerasiforme, (cultivated.)
,, frutescens, ( ,, )
Nicotiana pusilla, ( ,, )
Solanum mammosum, Hab. in Barbad.
Heliotropium incanum, Hab. in Peru.
Convolvulus batatas, (cultivated.)
„ - (species imperfect.)
Asclepias pubescens, Hab. ad C. B. Spei.
Prenanthes - , new species \
Sonchus Goreensis, Hab. in Goree.
Cnicus flavescens, Hab. in Hispania.
Anthemis - *.
Sinapis — an brassicata? (cultivated.)
Malva tomentosa, Hab. Indm.
,, polystachya, Hab. in Peru.
,, spicata, Hab. in Jamaica, Brasilia.
Sida Canariensis, Hab. in ins. Canariis.
Gossypium Indicum”, Hab. in India, &c.
Sedum - , species imperfect”.
1 Native name Berbiaca ; the calyx is bruised, and applied as a dressing to simple wounds.
k Caule racemoso, foliis linearibus, integerrimis, remotis, passim in spinis fortibus mutatis,
P. spinosa ? Bowdich. It seems to me very probable, that the poor and sandy soil of Bona
Vista has occasioned the transformation of the leaves of this plant into thorns.
This specimen was very imperfect, but the radius was yellow, and the whole head globose.
The leaves were lance-shaped, dentated like a saw, and the whole plant was covered with
cotton. This, and the Cnicus, are both given as strengtheners after fever, in the form of an
infusion.
m The natives call this plant Pontadery ; it is one of the ingredients for making the dye
Broidge, and a decoction of its roots is given as a cooling drink.
" No other use is made of this plant at Bona Vista, than that of squeezing the seeds into
water, and then dropping the liquid into the ear, or washing the mouth with it, whenever these
parts are affected.
The leaves are bruised for making cataplasms.
216
APPENDIX.
Tamarix Africanap, Hab. in Algeria.
Punica granatum, (cultivated.)
Rosa rubiginosa ?
Mimosa glandulosa, Hab. in Mississippi.
Caseslpinia pulcherrima, Hab. in Barbadoes.
„ ? new species q.
Cassia, new species, (imperfect".)
Elaeodendrum argam, Hab. in sylvis Barbariae.
Ricinus communis, (cultivated.)
Cucurbitus citrullus, (cultivated.)
Cucumis pubescens, an indig. ?
Incertae sedis.
Manoelia pallida, new genus 3 ?
p A decoction of the young twigs is supposed to be a remedy for the tooth-ache. The
shrub is called Taraff.
q Caule herbaceo. Foliis impari-pinnatis, pinnulis 8-jugis, foliolis obliquis. Stipulis
basin singuli petioli. Staminibus, 10. Legumine ovato. Floribus solitariis, luteis, odora-
tissimis. Planta inermis, pumila. This is the principal ingredient, among a number of other
herbs, used by the natives for dyeing cotton stuffs of a black colour. The herbs are gathered,
dried, and burnt ; the ashes are then soaked in water for three days, unless it is cool weather,
when they are left for a week. The dye is then strained, and the stuff steeped in it for three
days ; it is then taken out, rinsed in cool water, and dried in the sun. They repeat this
process three times before they consider the colour fast.
r Foliis obtusis, mucronatis, eglandulosis, 10-jugis, stipulis parvis. Caule suffruticoso.
Floribus flavis. Leguminibus oblongis, acute mucronatis et falcatis. The inhabitants con¬
sider it as poisonous.
■ Classis, 8. Ordo, 1. Lysimachiee?
Calyx monophyllus, 5-divisus, 5-gonus, corolla regularis, limbo 5-diviso. Stamina 5,
lobis corollae opposita. Stylus unicus. Stigma simplex. Capsula unilocularis, polysperma?
Caulis herbaceus. Folia opposita, cum squamulis pluribus. Flores solitarii, axillares,
Corolla pallida. Tota planta hirsuta. Manoelia pallida? Boivdich.
BOTANY.
247
ST. JAGO.
Bromelia ananas, Hab. in America.
Aloe vulgaris, Hab. in India.
Zea mays, Hab. in America.
Datura Metel, Hab. in Asia, Africa, et in insulis Canariis.
Nicotiana pusilla, an indig. ?
Solanum furiosum.
Heliotropium incanum.
Ocymum integerrimum, Hab. in Ind. Or.
lpomaea leucantha, Hab. in Amer. torrida.
,, dissecta, Hab. in Guinea.
Convolvulus batatas, Hab. in Ind. utraque.
Mammea — - *.
Citrus aurantium, Hab. in India.
,, medica, Hab. in Oriente, et in Eur. meridion.
Gossypium Indicum, Hab. in India.
Hibiscus sabdariffa, Hab. in India.
Malva tomentosa, Hab. in India.
,, spicata, Hab. in Jamaica, Brasilia.
Tamarix Africana.
Cassia occidentalis, Hab. in America.
Cucurbita citrullus, Hab. in Eur. Afr. et Ind.
„ potiro.
* Two species have been described by Persoon, the m. Americana having four, and the
m. humilis having three seeds. After examining several fruits of the species at St. Jago, 1
more frequently found three, but others had only one seed. The fruit is much esteemed, but
not plentiful. The length of time before the tree produces fruit, is almost enough to deprive
any one of a wish to plant it. Twenty years are generally calculated on by the natives of the
leeward coast of Africa, before it becomes serviceable.
248
APPENDIX.
BANJOLE AND ITS ENVIRONS.
Ulva bullata.
Fucus capillaris.
Pteris".
Arum*.
Kyllingia umbellata, Hab. in Ind. Or.
„ - - , species imperfect.
„ bulbosa.
Mariscus aphyllus.
Fuirena canescensy, Hab. in Africa.
Hypselytrum Senegalense, Hab. in Senegal.
Panicum capillare, Hab. in Virginia, &c.
„ milium % Hab. in India.
„ colonum3, Hab. in Indiae cultis.
Oryza muticab.
Sorghum - - .
Cenchrus? -
" This is the only fern I could find in Banjole. It bears a strong resemblance to the
p. multifidum from Persia.
1 None of the Aroideas were in blossom during my stay at Bathurst, for they spring up
immediately after the rains, and disappear again in a fortnight. I determined the genus from
the tubercles lying in the sand near the sea-shore; they were all very acrid, blistering the
lips severely, if applied to them.
y Newly born children are washed with an infusion of its leaves.
* This is eaten by the natives.
a This is very like the specimens of p. colonum, found by M. Guichenot, at Timor.
b The white rice of the Gambia is generally thought to be quite equal to that of Carolina,
but in the variety which I examined, the seeds were yellow, flat, and deeply furrowed. When
boiled, it turns red.
c Flores hermaphroditi. Glumae uniflorae, 2-valvis, valvulis inaequalibus. Cor. 2-valvis,
valvulis inaequalibus. Stam. 3. Styli 2, capillares. Flores dense spicati, cum involucre
pilorum violaceorum.
BOTANY.
249
Cenchrus echinatus, Hab. in Porto Rico.
Phleumd ?
Holcus sorghum'.
Aristida - — , species imperfect.
Cynosurus - f.
Crypsis - , species imperfect.
Cynodon - g.
Dactylis - , species imperfect.
Eleusine — an cruciata ?
Poa reptans.
Gramen h.
i
99 •
d Glumis maculatis, purpurascentibus, spiculis alternis, lateralibus terminalibusque.
e Native name, Couscous. The natives boil it till it becomes a kind of paste, which they
eat as we do bread. A dull red dye for cotton is extracted from its stem. It very much
resembles the holcus sorghum from Coromandel.
f The same as that found in the Isle of France by Commerson.
s Apparently that species brought by Commerson from Brazil.
h Rhachis dens6 spicata. Spiculae solitari®. Glum® uniflor®, piloso-plumos®. Cor.
2-valvis, valvulis fere squalibus. Styli 2. Stam. 1. Flores hermaphroditi. Cetera ignota.
A grass, brought from the Cape of Good Hope by M. Lalande, resembles this very strongly ;
it is not yet named.
1 Flores masculi. Glum® 2-valvis. Cor. 2-valvis. Stam. 3. Dense spicatum.
k Flores polygami, cum involucro pilorum rigidorum. Glum® 1-flor®, 2-valvis, valvulis
vald& insqualibus. Cor. 2-valvis, valvulis insequalibus.
1 Flores inferiores hermaphroditi, superiores masculi. Stam. 3. Stylus 1. Rhachis dense
spicata.
m Flores monoid, cum involucro lanuginoso, et pilis purpurascentibus. Glum® 2-florae.
Flores superiores fern, infer, masc.
n Flores hermaphroditi. Glum® 1-florae, 1-valvat®, mutic®. Cor. 2-valvis, valvulis com-
pressis, in®qualibus, interiori minori, exteriore amplexo. Stam. 3. Styl. 1. Stigmata
capillaria. Flores cum involucro plumoso, densk paniculati. Spicula singula fasciculo
foliorum parvorum, et folio majore spathae instar instructa. The native name is Boignfall,
and it is thrown into the warm baths used after fevers.
2 K
*250
APPENDIX.
Gramen0.
Phoenix dactylifera, Hab. in Afr. Oriente, &c.
Raphia vinifera, Hab. in Benin.
Borassus flabelliformis, Hab. in Ind.
Corypha — an minor p ?
Asparagus officinalis q, cultivated.
,, falcatusr, Hab. in Zeylona.
Dioscorea cajanensis3.
Commelina communis, Hab. in America.
„ erecta, Hab. in Virginia.
Scilla, species imperfect *.
Musa paradisica11, Hab. in utraque India et in Africa.
,, sapientum, Hab. in Amer. Orientale.
Conocarpus, species imperfect x.
Polygonum bistorta, Hab. in Anglia.
„ - , species imperfect y.
Salsola soda, Hab. in Europae australis salsis.
Beta vulgaris, (cultivated.)
Chenopodium caudatum z, Hab. in Guinea.
„ multifidum, Hab. in Bonaria.
° Flores hermaphroditi. Glumse nullae. Cor. 2-valvis, valvulis exterioribus majoribus,
navicularibus, interioribus amplectentibus, purpurascentibus. St^m. 2. Styl. 1. Stigmata
plumosa. Flores lax& paniculati. Spiculee imbricatm. Singulus petiolus cum involucro
plumoso.
p Native name, Run, signifying strength and a flourishing state. It is very abundant, and
makes excellent timber for rafts, beams, &c., because it is not liable to be attacked by worms.
q This succeeds better than any European vegetable yet introduced.
r Anti-venereal.
s This was brought from Sierra Leone, but though it flourishes very well, is little cultivated.
* There was no other' part of the plant to be found than the bulb, which I think was not
large enough for that of the s. maritima.
u There are very few bananas grown at Bathurst ; they chiefly come from the banks of the
river.
x The fruit is dried, pounded, mixed with water, and given for hardness of the abdomen.
y Native name, Senem-contra. It is used as a worm medicine.
* Called Koonaky by the Moors, who dry and make an infusion of it, which is taken fasting,
as a remedy against worms.
BOTANY.
251
Celosia coccinea3, Hab. in India.
Amaranthus angustifolius, Hab. ad mare Caspicum.
,, spinosus, Hab. in Indiis.
Centunculus - c.
Piripea, an coerulead?
Ruellia alopecurioidea, Hab. in Montserrat.
Ocymum basilicum % Hab. in India.
Nepeta multibracteata, Hab. in Atlante, prope Tlemsen.
Mentha citrata.
Perilla, new species '? „
Brunella, new species8 ?
Scoparia, an dulcis ? species imperfect.
Solanum furiosum.
,, iEthiopicum, Hab. in Ethiopia.
„ pomiferum h.
,, sodomeum, Hab. in Africa.
„ nigrum.
„ Carolinense1.
Capsicum frutescens, Hab. in India.
_ k
Physalis angulata, Hab. in India utraque.
Nicotiana fruticosa Hab. in Vera Cruz.
1 This, and a white variety, is boiled and eaten with rice, to give an acid flavour.
b Foliis ovatis, retusis. Spicis geminatis. Floribus viridibus. Caule articulis rubris.
c Foliis hastatis, oppositis, paniculatis.
d This is the Piripea brought from Madagascar by Perottet in 1820, and not yet named. I
have therefore called it p. ccerulea, and added the following description. Floribus cceruleis,
tribracteatis, paniculatis, Foliis lineari-lanceolatis, oppositis.
' A cooling drink, for fevers and coughs, is made with an infusion of this plant.
f Foliis linearibus, integerrimis. Bracteis 3, exteriore majore. Floribus lilacinibus.. This
plant destroys a great deal of corn, by overrunning the plantations.
« Valrje hirsuta. Calycibus involucrisque valde. spinosis.
h This, and the preceding species, are both eaten.
1 The leaves are boiled, bruised, and applied outwardly for craw-craw, a species of itch
k Pedunculis 2 aut 4 floris. Fructibus erectis, parvis, oblongis. Foliis lanceolatis, sinuatis.
1 This is said to be indigenous.
2 K 2
252
APPENDIX.
Crescentia cujete.
Convolvulus pentapetaloides, Hab. in Majorca.
„ arvensis.
,, spithameus, Hab. in Virginia.
„ soldanellam, Hab. in Anglia, Hisp., &c.
,, batatas.
,, lanuginosus, Hab. in Oriente.
Ipomsea involucrata, Hab. in Benin.
Asclepias pubescensr.
„ gigantea? Hab. in India.
,, laniflora, Hab. in Arabia felici.
„ an scandens ? species imperfect.
„ lactifera3, Hab. in Zeylona.
m It overruns the sea-shore.
n An c. cujanensis? Foliis quinatis, pedunculis trifloris umbellatisque. Capsula, 4-locu-
lari, loculis monosperrais. Corolla albd. Totd plantd valde hirsutd.
0 Corolld atro-purpurascente. Pedunculo vald£ inflato. Caps, obscure tetragona, ssepius
3-loculari, semiuibus magnis, lateribus compressis, ad hilum maculatis, et odore fsetida,
embryone magno, viridi, et vald6 plicato. Foliis cordatis, acuminatis. Caule volubile, cum
squamis parvis, irregularibus. The natives call it Lemmy-lemmy, signifying black lips, and
use it as a strong purgative ; Mr. Malcolm Ritchie tried it with success in several instances,
and in one case administered a large table-spoon full of the powdered seeds, which continued
to operate gently, and without pain, for three days. The principal objection to it as a remedy,
is the quantity necessary to be taken, as it is very nauseous. I suspect there is more than
one species.
p Caule prostrato, fruticoso, ramoso. Floribus purpurascentibus, minutis. Pedunculis
longis, trifloris, ramosis, axillaribus. Foliis ovatis, lanceolatis, fasciculatis, subtus canes-
centibus.
a Foliis linearibus, glaberrimis, integerrimis. Caule nano, erecto, rubro. Floribus soli-
tariis, flavis, purpurascentibus.
r The natives use the root as a violent purgative, and call it Faftan.
s The abundant milk flowing from this shrub does not seem to be made use of in this part
of the world, as in Peru.
BOTANY.
253
Asclepias parviflora, Hab. in Carolina, Florida, &c.
_ t
)•» - •
Scaevola lobelia, Hab. in Indiis.
Cichoriura endivia, (cultivated.)
„ pumilum, ( „ )
Sonchus crassifolius, Hab. in Hispania.
Picris, an asplenioides ? species imperfect.
Carduus, new species".
,, benedictus.
Chrysocoma, species imperfect.
„ reticulata.
„ denticulata*.
,, linosyris, Hab. in Eur. temp.
Senecio y.
,, nemorensis.
Arctium *.
Kuhnia, new species \
Elechrysum, new species6.
Cotula umbellata0, Hab. ad C. b. sp.
Calendula pluvialis, Hab. ad C. b. sp.
Nacibea, new species d.
Sarcocephalus esculentus.
‘An nova species? Foliis oppositis, cordatis. Umbellis axillaribus, viridi-purpuras-
centibus. Caule volubile.
u Foliis amplexicaulibus, lyratis, dentatis, spinosis, pubescentibus. Pedunculis brevibus.
Foliolis calycinis teretibus, pinnatifidis, basibus ovatis, adpressis. In appearance, this resem¬
bles the c. marianus of De V aillant.
x This is dried in the sun, powdered, and given for diseases of the lungs.
y Species glabra, floribus purpurascentibus.
z Foliis lanceolatis, obsolete serratis, alternis.
a Floribus pallidis. Foliis ovatis, ad basin attenuatis. Petiolis longis.
b Foliis lanceolatis, sessilibus, ad basin attenuatis. Pedunculis parvis. Floribus axilla¬
ribus. Calice rugoso, purpurascente. Receptaculo alveolato. Caule suffrutescente. It is
used as a purgative.
c Varietas cum umbellis elongatis, subspicatis.
d Pedunculis 1-floris. Foliis lineari-lanceolatis, fasciculatis, denticulatis. Calyce 4-fido,
ebracteato.
254.
APPENDIX.
Loranthus Senegalensis.
Pavonia aristata, Hab. in America.
Clematis Chinensis6.
„ glauca, Hab. in Siberia, Oriente.
Argemone Mexicana.
Brassiere varietates, (cultivated.)
Raphanus - - (cultivated.)
C’leome, species imperfect.
,, triphylla, Hab. in Indiis.
Cardiospermum halicacabum, Hab. in Indiis.
Citrus aurantium et varietatesf, Hab. in India.
,, medica et varietates, Hab. in Oriente.
Melia azedirachta aut azadriachta, (cultivated.)
Hermannia, species imperfect.
Hibiscus trionum8, Hab. in Italia, Africa, &c.
,, hirtus, Hab. in India.
,, vesicarius, Hab. in Africa.
„ tiliaceus, Hab. ad rivos Indire.
,, Senegalensis h.
,, — - , new species1.
Sida carpinifoliak, Hab. in Madeira.
„ muricata, Hab. in N. Hispania.
,, Africana, Hab. in Benin.
„ , new species1.
e The leaves are made into a plaster, and applied for pains in the back. The same use is
made in the Mauritius of the c. mauritiana.
fThe oranges of Mandingo are very inferior to those of the leeward coast,
g Native name, Dummodo. The leaf is boiled with rice, to give it an acid flavour. The
Moors make a syrup with it for a cough, and call it Basab.
h Called Ratach by the natives, and used both as a purgative and worm medicine.
* Calycis interioris segmentis basi, glandula parva, rubra, singula divisura. Caule aspero
subaculeato. Foliis rubris, serratis, trilobatis, lobo medio longissimo. Corolla sulphurea
basi, intus purpurascente.
k This species of Sida, which is generally dwarfish, here grows to the size of a large shrub.
1 Foliis lanceolatis, dentatis, nervis crassis. Floribus flavis, parvis, glomeratis, axillaribus.
Tota planta hirsuta. It is called Sany-sany, meaning splendid, or precious, and is supposed
to be a remedy against worms.
BOTANY.
255
Adansonia digitatam, Hab. in Senegal, ABgypto.
Bombax pentandrum, Iiab. in India utraque.
Anona obovata", Hab. in Florida.
Metrosideros umbellata0 ?
Psidium pyriferum, Hab. in Indiis.
Phaseolus lathyroides, Hab. in Jamaica.
,, species imperfect p.
,, new species'1?
Hedysarum nummularifolium, Hab. in India.
„ new species r ?
Aischynomene Indica.
Inga fraxinea.
,, unguis cati.
Cylista comosa5.
Dolichos - , species imperfect.
„ pilosus.
„ lablab\ Hab. in Aigypto.
,, species imperfect.
Tamarindus officinalis.
,, Indicus, Hab. in India, America, & c.
m The enormous size of this tree is proverbial. Its fruit has an agreeable acid flavour, and
being very abundant, forms a principal article of food among the natives, who season many
of their dishes with it, especially a kind of gruel made of corn, and called rooy. It is the
only tree which appears to lose its leaves just before the rainy season. Vide plate 1 1.
n Native name, Banda. The tree grows to a large size, and the fruit does not seem to be
eaten ; but as it is exceedingly hard before it is ripe, the boys use it as a ball.
“ Floribus verticillato-umbellatis. Petalis parvis, rubris, pulcherrimis. Stam. 8, 9, 10.
Foliis caulinis ignotis, floralibus parvis Bnxi referentibus. Petiolis pubescentibus.
p This is an article of food among the natives. The standard was very much twisted with
the stamina, in the manner of the Phaseolus, but I could not ascertain its specific characters.
s Glabra volubili. Floribus spicatis, flavis, axillaribus. Pedunculis longissimis. Foliis
ovatis, acuminatis, alternis. Glandula magna ad basin petiolorum.
r Floribus spicatis. Foliis ovatis, binatis, serrulatis. Leguminibus falcatis, *2-articulatis.
Stipulis subulatis. Planta herbacea, hirsuta.
5 Comosa, a manuscript name, given by Solander to a specimen brought by Afzelius.
‘It overruns the whole island of Banjole, and the Moors call it Natoo. They boil the
seeds with goat’s fat to make an ointment, which they rub on the skin to cure flatulence.
256
APPENDIX.
Abrus precatoris, Hab. in India.
Detarium Senegalense.
Cytisus cajan, Hab. in Zeylona.
Arachis hypogea u, Hab. in utraque Ind. Afr.
Cassia occidentalism, Hab. in America.
,, acuminata, Hab. in Guyana: sylvis.
,, fistula, Hab. in India, iEgypto, &c.
Moringa arabicay, Hab. in Arabia.
Indigofera trifoliata, Hab. in India.
„ stricta, Hab. ad C. b. spei.
,, frustescens z, Hab. ad C. b. spei.
Guilandina bonducella % Hab. in Indiis.
Robinia flavab, Hab. in borealis imperii Sinense.
Lathyrus, species imperfect0.
Erythrina picta, Hab. in India.
Glycine apios, Hab. in Virginia.
Medicago falcata.
Favolus glaber.
Genus Legumend.
» The horses of the Gambia are said to be better, stronger, and to live longer than those of
the other parts of the coast, owing to the superior quality of this plant, which forms their
principal food, and is given to them in a dry state.
^ This plant seems to be the panacea of the Mandingoes, who call it Bantamara. Its seeds
are roasted, and used instead of coffee. The warm baths given for all disorders, have a
quantity of these leaves thrown into them. They are said entirely to cure rheumatism, and in
all fever cases the bodies of the patients are rubbed with them.
y The leaves are beaten, and applied to bruises, and also boiled in the water used for baths.
z 1 could not ascertain which species is preferred for dyeing, but they all seem to be free
from the destructive insect so fatal to the crops'of indigo in the West Indies.
a Called Koory, signifying “ collected into one.” The fruit is said to be good for ulcera¬
tion of the throat, and glandular swellings. The leaf is boiled in water with sugar, and the
decoction given as a gargle.
b Et varietas floribus albis. The wood of this variety is that chosen for tooth-picks,
c Named Nboom, soaked in water, and the infusion drank for bowel complaints,
d Staminibus distinctis. Foliis obovatis, glabris. Calyce hirsuto. Floribus laxfe panicu-
latis. Arbor altissima, similis Pultenecc. Native name Ven. The wood is as haid as
mahogany, but never grows to a large circumference. It is much used for small beams and
rafters.
BOTANY.
257
Mimosa asperata, Hab. in Jamaica.
„ Nilotica.
„ - species imperfect'.
Hymensea courbaril f.
Securidaca erecta, Hab. in Hispaniola saxosis.
Mangifera - «.
Elaeodendrum argam h, Hab. inter fluminis Tansif et Suz.
Rhamnus cassinoides, Hab. ad St. Dominicam.
Samara floribunda1, Hab. ad pratorum Cajennse et Guyennae.
Euphorbia - , new species k,
Ricinus viridis Hab. in India.
Jatropha manihot, Hab. in Amer. aust.
Cucurbita citrullus”, (cultivated.)
,, Potiro.
„ pepo, Hab. in Oriente.
„ idolatrica, Hab. in Guinea.
,, umbellata, Hab. in India.
,, mammeata? species imperfect.
Cucumis melo, (cultivated.)
„ vulgaris0, (cultivated.)
,, lineata, Hab. in Gujana.
Bryonia - , species imperfect.
« This herbaceous Mimosa is bruised, boiled, and used instead of soap.
f The natives make all their charcoal from this tree.
6 Foliis pinnatis, foliolis alternis. Drupa sub-reniformi. Native name Detta.
h Native name Gunsodake. It is supposed to be antiscorbutic.
* Flores non vidi. S. floribundse similis habitu, et foliis obovatis. There are two trees of
it on the island, which are so large as to serve for land-marks when navigating the river.
k Calyce parvo. Caule dichotomo. Floribus axillaribus. Foliis obliquis, ovatis, obtusis,
subtus canescentibus, stipulis minutis. Planta lactescens.
1 An infusion of the root is taken fasting for worms, and is called by the Moors, Badasabalas.
m This grows to an immense size. A variety from St. Jago is propagated in preference, as
it is devoid of sweetness. The only botanical difference is, that its leaves have three lobes
instead of five.
n Both this and the c. melo produce good fruit, but it is difficult to preserve it till it reaches
maturity, for it is always attacked by worms.
2 L
258
APPENDIX.
Ficus polita0? Hab. in Guinea.
„ nitida, Hab. in India.
„ terebrata p, Hab. in insul. Mauritiis.
„ parasitica, Hab. in India.
Incertae sedis
1. Classis 8. Ordo 1. Lysimachiae,
Calyx monophyllus, tubulosus, quinque — fidus, persistens, hirsutus, pilis
basi dilatata, glandulosa, viscosa. Corolla regularis, tubulosa, alba,
limbo quinque-lobo, lobis mucronatis. Stamina quinque, inserta corollae,
et ejusdem lobis opposita. Antherae violaceae. Germen superum.
Stylus unicus. Stigma quinquefidum, Capsula pentagona, mono aut
polysperma, unilocularis. Flores tribracteati, (bracteis hastatis) spicati,
terminales, et axillares. Caulis suffruticosus. Folia lanceolata, glabra,
repanda, alterna, petiolis brevibus.
Findlaya alba ? Bowdich.
2. Classis 8. Ordo 3. Acanthaceae ?
Calyx monophyllus, 4-divisus, unibracteatus. Corolla violacea, irregu¬
laris, hypogyna, 4-fida, singulo lobo sinuato. Stamina 2. Stylus I.
Stigma simplex. Fructus superus, capsularis, bilocularis, polyspermus.
Folia opposita, ovata. Caulis herbaceus. Flores in spicis imbricatis,
axillaribus. Tota planta hirsuta.
Banjolea violacea ? Bowdich.
3. Classis 8. Ordo — an affinis Jasmine* aut Oleineae.
Calyx tubulosus, 6-fidus, cum 2-bracteis, aut 8-fidus. Corolla hypogyna,
lutea, 1-petala, 4-fida, regularis. Stamina 4, inserta corollae, et ejusdem
limbum aequantia. Anther* violaceae. Fructus globosus, drupaceus,
nuce fragili, 1 sperma, 7-sulcata. Flores aggregati, subcorymbosi, termi-
° The old leaves of this tree were quite rough, and the young ones perfectly smooth.
p The natives assert, that they procure a substance like Caoutchouc from this tree.
BOTANY.
259
nales. Folia alterna, glaberrima, uninervia, cordata, ad basin attenuata.
Arbor magna.
Keiria lutea ? Bowdich.
4. Classis 8. Ordo 4. Jasmineae ?
Calyx tubulosus, 4-fidus. Corolla tubulosa, regularis, tubo longo, et
limbo 4-lobo, lobis lanceolatis. Stamina 4, intra tubum. Stylus 1.
Stigma ignotum. Fructus superus, dispermus. Herba tenuissima,
pulcherrima, Flores laxate paniculati. Corolla intus alba, sed extus
rosea. Folia linearia fasciculata.
Duvaucellia tenuis ? Bowdich.
5. Classis 8. Ordo 6. Labiateae ?
Calyx semi-ventricosus, bilabiatus, labio superiori majore, utroque
3-lobo, lobis spinosis. Corolla bilabiata, labium superifis integrum,
magnum, incurvatum, villosum, inferius 3-fidum. Stam. 4, didynama,
inclusa. Stigma simplex. Semina 4, nuda. Flores capitati — verticillati,
bracteati, bracteis linearibus. Corolla alba. Caulis sulcatus, racemosus.
Folia cordata, dentata, petiolata, fasciculata.
6. Classis 8. Ordo 6. Labiatese?
Calyx 1-phyllus, 4-fidus. Caliculo parvo, 5-dentato, dentibus acutis.
Corolla bilabiata, labium superius reflexum, 3-dentatum, inferius 3-den-
tatum, denti medio longissimo. Stam. 2, exserta, 2-abortiva? Flores
fasciculati, axillares. Corolla pallida violacea. Caulis petioli et calyces
hirsuti. Folia glaberrima, magna, acuminata, petiolis longis.
7. Classis 8. Ordo 7. Scrophularia?.
Calyx tubulosus, profunde divisus, divisionibus 2, majoribus, purpuras-
centibus. Tubus brevis. Corolla tubulosa, longa, cylindrica, irregularis,
limbo 5-diviso, divisionibus 3, conniventibus, fornicatis. Stamina 4,
didynama. Stylus 1, Stig. simplex. Folia terna. Corolla alba.
Flores capitati.
2 L 2
260
APPENDIX.
8. Classis 8. Ordo 10. Convolvulaceas ?
Calyx persistens, 5-divisus, caliculo multifido, aut profundi dentato.
Corolla ignota. Capsula multilocularis, loculis 10 ? 2-spermis. Semina
receptaculo centrali adherentia. Folia cordata, acuminata. Pedunculi
foliis oppositi. Cetera ignota.
9. Classis 1 1 . Ordo 2. Rubiaceae ?
Calyx 1-phyllus, superus 4-fidus. Corolla tubo longo, limbo 4-diviso,
reflexo. Stamina 4. Anther® sessiles. Stigma bifidum. Capsula
Nacibe®. Flores corymbosi, pedunculis longis, axillaribus. Corolla
rosea, pulcherrima. Caulis herbaceus. Folia lanceolata, opposita.
10. Classis 11. Ordo 3. Caprifoliace® ?
Calyx 1-phyllus, superus brevis, obscure 5-dentatus, bibracteatus.
Corolla tubulosa, 5-fida, tubo longissimo gracili. Stam. 5, non exserta,
Anther® violace®. Stylus 1. Stig. simplex. Flores fasciculati, axillares.
Folia lanceolata, opposita, coriacea, odorata. Fructus ignotus. Inter-
dum parasitica.
Coddingtonia parasitica ? Bow dicli.
11. Classis 14. Ordo 11. Leguminose® ?
Calyx 5-divisus, divisionibus profundis, acuminatis. Corolla 5-petala,
sub-irregularis. Vexillum majus. Stam. 10, distincta, curvata. Anther®
long®, in®quales. Legumen compressum, marginatum, ovatum, parvum.
Folia simpliciter pinnata, alterna, multijuga. Stipul® 2, lanceolat®.
Corolla flava. Caulis ramis gracilibus, pubescens.
12. Classis 14. Ordo 11. Leguminose®?
Calyx 5-divisus, divisionibus profundis. Corolla regularis, 5-petala.
Stamina 10, approximata, diadelpha. Stylus curvatus. Pedunculi bi
aut triflores, axillares. Legumen oblongum, compressum, polyspermum,
torulosum. Folia simpliciter pinnata, 2-stipulata. Caulis herbaceus,
tenuis. Corolla flava.
BOTANY.
261
13. Classis 14. Ordo 13. Rhamnoidese?
Genus prop£ Rhamnum, Paliurum, et Elseodendrum, sed diversum styli 2.
Drupa nuce ossea, 3 loculare, bispinosa. Folia ovata, acuminata, tri-
nervia, pubescentia't.
14. Classis 15. Ordo 1. Euphorbiaceae ?
Dioica. Mascula ignota.
Fern. Calyx 5-partitus, patens, divisionibus ovatis, striatis, pallide viridis.
Corolla nulla. Corona minima, rubra, annularis, crenulata, in imo calycis.
Germ, superum cylindricum, sex-costatum. Fructus ignotus, sed germen
triloculare, trispermum. Flores paniculati, terminales. Pedunculi biflores.
Folia alterna, trilobata, stipitata, sinibus profundis. Petioli 3, stipuli-
formibus r.
15. Classis 15. Ordo 2. Cucurbitaceae ?
Dioica. Mascula. Calyx 5-fidus. Corolla 5-petala, rotata, flava. Stam.
5. Antherae spiralit&r contortae, filamenta distincta. Flores umbellati.
Folia hastata, 5-lobata. Caulis contortus, volubilis. Fem. ignota8.
16. Arbor Magna.
Fructibus drupaceis, nucibus, duris, axillaribus, pedunculatis, l-spermis,
odoratis. Foliis ovatis, acuminatis, subtfis reticulatis, alternis, petiolatis.
Cetera ignota.
17. Arbor Mimosae similis.
Floribus minutis, flavis, paniculatis. Pedunculis cauleque aculeatis,
spinis solitariis. Foliis pinnatis.
18. Ilerba.
Calyx 1-phyllus, 5-fidus, divisionibus lanceolatis. Cor. 5-petala, flava,
i The root of this shrub is used by the natives as ipecacuanha, which quality approaches it
to the rhamnus catharticus. It has two native names, Sedem and Bouqui.
r A honey drop lodges in each division of the calyx, and the stigmata are imbued with a
strong viscous juice. It is a beautiful shrub, and yields a rich fragrance.
• I was told, that the fruit is eaten when young, and tastes, and looks, like a young
cucumber.
262
APPENDIX.
epigyna. Stam. 5, alterna cum petalis. Stylus 1. Stig. simplex.
Caps, carnosa, 2-locularis, seminibus minutis, receptaculis carnosis.
Flores umbellati, axillares, petiolis longis. Folia sessilia, fasciculata,
opposita, lineari-lanceolata. Caulis suffruticosus. Tota planta villosa1.
19. Arbor.
Calyx 1-phyllus, 4-fidus. Corolla ignota. Stam. ignota. Stylus 1.
Germen superum. Caps, cum placenta centrali, polysperma. Semina
minuta. Folia ovata, ad basin attenuata, succulenta, opposita, nervo
medio crasso. Flores corymbosi, 2-bracteati. Caulis cicatrlcibus folio-
rum notatus.
20. Arbor.
Calyx superus, campanulatus, 5-fidus. Petala nulla. Squamae 5, calyci
insertae. Stam 5 Styl. 1. Stig. capitatum. Flores in spicis termi-
nalibus. Folia opposita, ovata, mucronata, ad basin attenuata.
21. Arbor.
Fructibus in paniculis terminalibus. Calyx persistens, 5-fidus. Capsulae
inferse, longae, trigonae, striatae, calyce persistente coronatae, 1-loculares.
Folia opposita, ovata, ad basin attenuata.
22. Herba.
Calyx 1-phyllus, 4-divisionibus, profundis, lanceolatis. Corolla vel
1-petala, 12-partita, aut 12-petala. Stam. numerosa, inaequalia, filamenta
longa, receptaculo inserta. Antherae longae, sulcatae. Receptaculum
poculiformi-crenulatum, et 12-striatum. Stig. globosum, sessile. Germen
inferum. Capsulae 12, aggregatae, polyspermae. Cor. alba. Antherae et
receptaculum flavae. Planta herbacea, humilis.
23. Herba scandens.
Calyx 3-phyllus. Cor. 3-petala. Stam. ignota. Styl. ignotus. Stig. 3,
t The natives make a decoction of its leaves, and give it as a drink in fever cases.
BOTANY.
263
persistentia. Caps. 3, super*, polyspermse. Folia alterna, cordiformia,
acuminata. Flores spicati. Corolla virides. Cetera ignota
24. Arbuscula.
Calyx o-divisus. Corolla flava 5-divisa. Capsula 3 locularis, muricata,
loculis monospermis. Flores axillares et terminals. Folia alterna,
angulata, serrata, trilobata, odoratissima. Cetera ignota.
25. Arbor.
Calyx 1-phyllus, trilobatus. Fructus globosus, glaber, coriaceus, tri-
valvis, polyspermus, 7-sulcatus, calyce persistente coronatus. Sem.
compressa, plana, flava, pulpa carnosa et alba cincta. Folia sub-rotunda,
5-nervata, opposita, glabra, nitida, subtus pubescentia, fasciculata, petiolis
longis, rami dichotomi. Cetera ignota.
26. Arbor.
Samara unilocularis, 1-sperma, compressa, ovata, ala circumdata.
Fructus fasciculate pendulis. Folia mucronata, ad basin attenuata,
subalterna ramis. An Terminalia ?
27. Arbor altissima.
Capsula globosa, coriacea, punctata, dehiscens, 4-valvis k placenta
centrali solutis. Sem. compressa, numerosa, imbricata. Loculus unus,
interdum abortives. Folia pari-pinnata, 4-juga. Foliola ovata, mucro¬
nata, obsolete undulata *.
" The Joloff name is Pice, the Moorish, Bakkis Sererie. The root is soaked in water, in
the proportion of three inches length to a quart, which makes a very bitter infusion, and is
said by the French residents to be a successful remedy against jaundice.
* This is the tree that produces the mahogany of the River Gambia, and seems to be
different to that of Sierra Leone, if we compare it with the description which immediately
follows. They both grow in Mandingo, but the wood of the Gambia tree is said to be very
superior to that of Sierra Leone. The natives call it Khai, and it is so heavy, that when fresh
cut, it immediately sinks in water, but rises after a time.
26 i
APPENDIX.
28. Arbor altissima.
Calyx 1-phyllus, 5-divisus, divisionibus lanceolatis, profundis. Petala 5,
lanceolata minuta. Stam. 7, hypogyna, aut perigyna. Stylus 1. Stig.
simplex. Pedunculi 2 aut 3 flores. Flores corymbosi, 1-bracteati,
odoratissimi. Folia obovatA uninervata, integerrima.
29. Arbor Sambuci similis.
Calyx persistens, 5-phyllus. Caps, quadricocca, rostrata, coriacea,
sicca dehiscens. Cocci placentae centrali non adherentes. Semina 4, ad
basin placentae insidentia, trigona, hirsuta. Pedunculus triflorus. Folia
magna, ovata, acuminata, ad basin cordata, petiolatay.
30. Arbor.
Drupa extus coriacea, intus carnosa, nuce 2-loculata, 2-sperma. Semina
lanugine fusca, densa, immersa. Cicatrix magna, ad hilum seminum.
Folia lanceolata, cordata, uninervata, subsessilia, subtus reticulata7.
31. Calyx 5-lobatus.
Bacca minuta, multilocularis, polysperma, calyce persistente coronata.
Folia integerrima, ovata, lanceolata, an pinnata a ?
32. Arbor foetida.
Calyx 4-fidus, seu 4-phyllus, inferus. Cor. ignota. Stamina 6-7,
hypogyna, cum margine membranacea. Folia ovata, ad basin attenuata.
Flores paniculati, terminales. Pedunculi bi aut tri flores. Caulis
ramosus, semi-angulosus.
33. Arbuscula.
Drupa carnosa, parva et nigra, calyce persistente coronata, nucibus
y An infusion of the leaves is given by the natives, to fatten those reduced by illness.
z This is called the Mandingo plum, and is much eaten by the natives. It has an insipid,
mealy taste. The wood of the tree is said to be the best in the country for fuel.
a The appearance of this genus refers it to the aurantiae, and from the anastomization of its
cells, it is probably new.
BOTANY.
265
2-sulcatus. Bracteee 2. Pedunculi dichotomi. Flores fasciculati, ax-
illares. Folia magna, opposita, lanceolata, acuminata, ad basin attenuata.
Cetera ignota.
34.
Calyx inferus, 2-3 fidus, dentatus urceolatus. Cor. 5-petala, regularis.
Stamina 10, insequalia. Ovarium, aut unicum, stigmatibus sessilibus
coronatum, et profundi sulcatum, aut ovaria plurima. Folia ovata,
integerrima. Corolla flava. Flores fasciculati, axillares. Rami tortuosi.
35. Arbor.
Capsula quadricocca, unilocularis, propter valvas ad medium capsulao
non extendentes. Capsula 4-alata. Folia opposita, ovata, acuminata.
Pedunculi axillares.
36. Herba.
Calyx persistens, superus, campanulatus. Corolla, an monopetala, sen
4-peta!a, lutea. Stam. plurima. Sty li 4. Stig. totidem. Germen
inferum. Fructus 4-coccus, coccis rostratis, connatis dehiscentibus,
2-3 spermis. Semina hirsuta. Pedunculi ramosi, axillares. Folia cor-
data, acuminata, subtus canescentia.
266
APPENDIX.
My Botanical List is much less complete than I had expected it would
be. I took great pains to make it so, but the one fatal event which
blighted all my other hopes, in a great measure frustrated even these
endeavours, added to which, the disastrous circumstances of my last
voyage bereft me of the aid I had expected to find in Europe.
Immediately after the rains cease between the tropics, vegetation is
in its? full vigour, but a great portion of it is so fugaceous, that a fortnight
will deprive the botanist of many beautiful and delicate plants. Unfor¬
tunately, we did not reach Bathurst till the end of November, two
months after the rains had terminated. Many faded and broken speci¬
mens were brought to me, of which I took notes, hoping, at Mr. Bowdich’s
second visit, to procure, not only the perfect plants, but those which we
had missed by our late arrival. I preserved a numerous collection as
vouchers for my veracity, and, disappointed in all other respects, was
returning with a splendid herbarium, carefully packed in a case which
seemed impenetrable. The vessel in which I returned was so overladen,
and consequently, so deep in the water, that, as we had a succession of
storms, from the moment we made the Azores till we reached Dover,
her deck was incessantly afloat ; the water penetrated, and most of my
property was destroyed. To examine the luggage in the hold was
impossible, and it would have availed nothing if I could have secured my
plants in my cabin, for I was there driven three times from my birth by
the torrents of water which set every thing swimming, and which left me
nothing but wet bedding to sleep on during the last fortnight. I was
fearful that much destruction had taken place, but, when I went to the
docks, to select the articles liable to duty, I can scarcely describe my
mortification, at seeing many of my valuable books, maps, and engrav¬
ings, but above all, my dried plants, drop at my feet in atoms. I was
thus disabled from comparing my herbarium with the magnificent collec¬
tions of England and France, and all I can now do with my new, or
imperfect genera, is to offer them as notes for any future traveller.
With regard to those which I profess to have determined, I offer them
BOTANY.
267
with some degree of confidence, for, since my return, I have re-examined
my notes, and the remnants of my specimens, amid the collection in the
Jardin du Roi, and have scarcely had a single instance to alter. My
books of reference, both for species and localities, have been Persoon
and Willdenow. At the end of each name, I have added the country to
which the plant has been hitherto supposed to be indigenous, that an
idea may be formed of the similitude of vegetation, and I have given the
uses made of it by the natives. They were all gathered in a soil
more or less sandy, and on a level with the sea, except those from
St. Jago, which are too few to admit of any observation.
It has been remarked by M. Palisot de Beauvois, in his Flora of Benin
and Owaree, that the natives of Africa more frequently make their
medicines from Composite, than any other family. This is by no means
the case with the Joloffs and Mandingoes; their remedies seem to be
distributed throughout the different families, and the only remarkable
circumstance attending them, is the frequency of their antidotes against
worms, and lung complaints. The variation of the climate accounts for
the necessity of the latter, but their food, which is chiefly rice and corn,
without any great proportion of fruit, does not seem to induce the former
disorder. The guinea worm I believe to be wholly unknown ; nor did I
see a single instance of enlarged spleen, or elephantiasis, so frequent
among the Fantees.
2 M 2
TRANSLATIONS FROM THE ARABIC.
The method pursued with the following translations, (which are as
literal as the difference of the two languages will allow them to be) was
to inquire of our Marrabout, Dongo Kary, for the most interesting tradi¬
tions of his own country. He accordingly brought us the manuscripts
in Arabic, which we translated, and then, as he spoke English very
tolerably, we read them to him for the sake of his corrections. For their
veracity then I can safely vouch, but still retain the originals, for the in¬
spection of those who may be desirous of other proof than that of my
assertion. 1 could not publish them, as the expense of a new type
would have been beyond my means. The difference of character, how¬
ever, is presented to the public in the annexed lithographic plate. The
pronunciations of Richardson, De Sacy, and Ellious Bochtor, (the Copt
who was interpreter to the French army in Egypt) are given on the right
of each letter, and the African on the left. One or two of the differences
have been noticed by De Sacy, but the rest are now published for the
first time.
The western dialect (as I have already stated) approaches nearer to the
learned Arabic than the modern Oriental, but our half-enlightened Moors
rarely understand the pure language in all its inflexions and forms, and their
want of knowledge in this respect renders their manuscripts very puzzling.
For instance, they frequently use the word “ kala,” which is the third
person singular, of the preterite, (or root) not only for “ he said,” which
is the real signification, but for they said, they say, I say, I said, & c.
Nor are they more exact in their formation of the plural number, which
at all times is difficult in the Arabic. For example, they write “ radjool”
for men, as well as man ; “ radjal” I believe is the occidental substitution
for the oriental plural “ nasoo.” Great confusion also arises from their
omission of servile letters, when they ought to be inserted as radicals.
*
A
r>
'0-ff~n.
A--&> &
QXa-#
oX^
TRANSLATIONS, &c.
269
and they increase the perplexity by the absence of the sign “ teschdid.’’
In the word “ ma,” water, they insert the “ hamza,” but do not seem
aware of its import : the “ gesrna” occurs frequently. All these
difficulties, however, are easily combatted by a thorough knowledge of
the language in its most perfect state, and I should recommend Lokman’s
fables as an excellent preparatory book. The simplicity, the style of
narration, the personification, and dialogues, all struck me as strongly
resembling Dongo Kary’s histories, which were not composed by
himself, but have been delivered from father to son, through a long-
succession of Marrabouts. There are doubtless several idioms which
have crept in from the Mediterranean, but which are chiefly confined to
words rather than construction, and are therefore easily detected. We
were in some measure prepared for them, by having collected a number
of manuscript phrases used in the Levant, and on the Northern Coast of
Africa, but we found them to be much more rare than we expected.
The astonishment expressed by the Marrabout at seeing me write, not
only my own language, but his also, was very entertaining; as the know¬
ledge of the Moorish females is confined to the repetition of the hymn and
common prayer ; and when I explained the “hamza” to him, he exclaimed,
as on every other wonderful occasion, “ white man and woman do every
thing; your country pass ours.”
It will be seen by the translations, that the religious traditions of
African Moors are confused and imperfect. Glimpses of the truth are
mingled with their own romantic notions, and so long as they ascribe
the highest honours to Mohammed, they care little for consistence of
circumstance, or connexion of events. The expressions used by our
Marrabout were frequently so ludicrous, that we could not avoid smiling,
or even laughing, and the seriousness with which he uttered them, added
to the effect caused by his having lost an eye, and by his enormous bush
of woolly hair, which stuck out from his head in every direction. He
would frequently argue with us on the respective merits of our religions,
and I was surprised by his correct acquaintance with the Christian tenets,
and his high opinion of their charitable tendency. He invariably con¬
fessed the divinity of our Saviour, as a prophet, and placed him in rank
next to Mahomet.
270
APPENDIX.
The common prayer is used as an introduction to all other Marrabout
prayers, or to any religious discourse.
The story of Joseph differs so much from the Hebrew version, that I
have thought it worth relating, in nearly the words of my friend Dongo
Kary. The transformation of Benjamin into a sister, the royalty of
Joseph, the father’s recognition of him by his garments, &c., have all
formed it into a romantic history, which is ended in the true African
style, that of the running away of Joseph’s brethren into the bush, and
there turning into wild men.
I have also a manuscript history of the kingdom of Kayor, but it is so
deficient of interest, being a list of names and places, and the number
of moons that the kings “ sat down,’’ (reigned) that I did not venture on
its publication.
The Pagan story of the monkeys is common on the leeward coast, and
in the Bight of Benin, and I have no doubt has lost much in the transla¬
tion, for the natives of those countries have infinite humour, and having
often watched them secretly, when they have been sitting in a circle, on
the ramparts of the fortress, I can imagine that they personate the
scolding and afterwards repentant wife, and hen-pecked husband, to the
life. On one occasion I had planted myself behind a cannon close to
them, when they were telling a ghost story; and on seeing, by the light
of the moon, that horror and alarm had seized the audience, it struck me,
that as I was clothed in white, I might act the ghost. I accordingly
threw my scarf over my head, and mounted on the gun-carriage; and as
I slowly appeared, they uttered one yell, and in an instant I had the
rampart to myself, nor could any persuasion tempt them to assemble on
that spot again.
THE CREATION.
Before all things, God made himself a splendid dwelling in the heavens.
He made the sacred books, Tanrat or Moses, Yandjal or Job, Foorkan or
Mohammed, and Saboor or David, and the pen with which he wrote them
was called “ Moonwelkalami.
TRANSLATIONS, &c.
271
He made the angels, and four of them were to command over the rest.
First : Gabriel, who helped to make the earth and sea ; Michael, who
rules over the rain, and keeps it in his charge ; Assarafiloo, who takes
care of the souls, and Osarailo, who is to sound the trumpet at the day
of judgment, when all will rise.
He also made these prophets, Adam, Abraham, Moses, Mohammed,
Jesus Christ, and Ababakoor; but Mohammed was created directly after
Gabriel, upon which God rested for 300 years without making any thing,
and Gabriel thought he was the only being besides the Creator, but he
happened to meet Mohammed, and exclaimed, “ I am disappointed, I
thought to rule over every thing, but now I see this being, I must inquire
of God which he made first; if me, then I shall still rule.” He went to
God with this salutation, “ I think God is master of every thing. King,
my master, you are every where.” Upon which God said, “ Why have
you quitted the spot I put you in?” Gabriel then asked the above
question, and God remained silent, and Gabriel stood in expectation 300
years, saying, “ Oh, thou father. Oh, thou father.” Then God said,
“ Silence you, you know well that I have not yet made the world, and I
could not make it as I intend, unless I had made Mohammed first ;
neither heaven, nor the fire, nor the devil, nor sea, nor moon, nor stars,
nor beasts.” God created seven heavens, and seven fires. The first
heaven is for God himself, where at the judgment-day will be admitted,
Mohammed, Jesus Christ, Abraham, and Moses, with the angel Eytoof,
who serves God alone, and is the only angel not commanded by Gabriel.
All these heavens are lighted brightly by the radiance from the above
prophets, who receive it from God. The first hell or fire, called Djanama,
is destined to those Marrabouts, who, having learned to read, and been
qualified to know God, afterwards fail in their duty, or commit evil.
God is said to have created Adam of sand, without any soul, and
Ybleess, or the great devil, having been made previously, found him
lying down, and despised him, saying, “ This is mere sand, shall it pre¬
sume to be a companion for me?” And he spate upon Adam. God
hearing this, instantly gave Adam a soul, who rose, and being angry,
tried to throw a ball of sand at Ybleess, and said, “ I will not serve
him.” For doing all this, God turned Ybleess out of heaven, but took
272
APPENDIX.
Adam there, and kept him 300 years, when he created Howa, a woman,
for him, and they were permitted to eat of every thing in heaven, but one
sort of fruit. Adam knew Ybleess from the above circumstance, but
Howa did not. Ybleess feeling his soul on fire, went and demanded
of God, payment or reward for all the prayers and good works which
he had performed in his previous life, and God asked him what pay he
wanted. Ybleess replied, “ I want company in the fire,” and God
answered, “ Go then, and try to make people wicked if you can, but I
shall not make people to pnt them in the fire, for the sake of keeping you
company.” Ybleess then thanked him, and went to Howa, to whom he
said, “ All the fruit in heaven is good, but this passes (surpasses) every
other, why then do you not eat of it? Howa said, “ My husband told
me not.” Ybleess returned, “ Your husband deceives you, God never
said so, for it is the best fruit of all, and Adam wants it for another
woman.” “ But there is no other woman.” “ Yes, there is ; but you
have been kept ignorant of her existence.” Howa then ate three fruits,
and took two more, which she put under the pillow of the bed, and then
charged Adam with the other woman. Adam swore it was false, and
Howa replied, “ Swear not, but eat of this fruit, and I will believe.” He
began to eat, and God sent Gabriel to prevent him. Gabriel seized
Adam by the throat, to prevent his swallowing it (which made man have
what is called Adam’s apple). God then told Ybleess, if any one met
him they might kill him. God called Adam three times, and said, “ For
this which you have done, I must create one earthly world for your
descendants, for you and they will be unfit for heaven now; and you
must descend to this earth, where you will find trouble every day, and
even that which you think good will prove to be evil. Go to it then.”
God then sent him a little book called Chosan, and told him to go and
wash, and to wash his heart first, then to pray; and said, “ You must die,
but after death you shall come to heaven.”
God began to make the world on a Friday, and finished it on the
Wednesday ; Thursday he rested. Friday is to be the day of judgment,
and when that same Friday comes, it will last 300 years, and there will
be rain for ten years, to destroy the world before the judgment.
TRANSLATIONS, &c.
273
THE DELUGE.
There were a great many wicked people, but Noah was a good man,
and a prophet among them, and had a wife named Djooliaka, and one
very wicked son, who was very powerful. Djooliaka was also very bad,
and a scoffer of God, and Noah felt compelled to pray for a deluge and
a new world. He began to pray on a Friday, and the angel Gabriel came
on the following Friday, and said, that God would grant the deluge.
Noah then built a large ship, and wrote God’s and his own name upon
every plank, and Sitani (a minor devil) licked out the names. Noah in
his distress prayed to God, who sent him a dog, (then created for the first
time) who kept off Sitani by trying to bite him. Noah was three
months making the ship, and three days collecting every thing, male and
female, that had life. The deluge lasted 300 years, and it was very cold.
When Noah thought it time to descend from the ark, he called the little
pigeon “ as big as his little finger,” named Rammatto, and which could
fly seven weeks without stopping, and asked him if the rain had ceased,
and Rammatto said, “ you must call and ask the sun,” and Noah then
told him to get up, and go into the sky, and if he came back to alight at
Mecca. Rammatto, flying to the east, near Mecca, there discovered the
first dry land, and took Noah back some of the grass; Noah seeing that,
went out, and built a large city. And the beasts came out, stood, and
walked about, and lived in the ark no more; but when Noah’s son Habil
killed his brother, they all ran away, and said, “ We are no longer safe,
for man would kill us more readily than his brother ; therefore, let us
avoid him.” Hence the fear and avoiding of man by animals, and their
living in the bush.
274-
APPENDIX.
THE COMMON PRAYER.
Iii the name of God, health for every body that has a soul. Recom¬
pense to good people at the day of judgment. Thanks to God the
master of every thing. King of judgment, we pray to you to give us
time to do what we wish. We ought to do according to your law. Your
law is right. God help every body to do what is right. He will not
then be angry with them. Amen.
HYMN.
One thousand two hundred and thirty years and six moons are gone
since Mahomet went. Every body knows this. Our day of labour is
done, our night of sleep is passed. Every thing which we make must
be spread on a hide (that every body may see it). If the young boy
makes, if the old man makes, leaving out nothing, still we must fear
God, to do away the bad things done before we lived. Do right quickly.
All things pass away except God, who must remain for ever.
THE HISTORY OF JOSEPH.
Joseph had twenty-nine brothers, and he dreamed that he represented
the stars, and when he told this to his father and mother, they replied,
“ Say this no more, for fear of your brothers,” but the by-standers re¬
peated it ; and his brothers asked him, “ Are you to be our master?” and
Joseph replied, “ What God sends I take, but as yet I know not.” The
brothers then seized him, put him into a bucket, and let him down into
a well thirty feet deep, on pretence of his being better able to get water
than they, who were bigger. God told him not to cry, for that would
do him no good. The father and mother cried till they were blind.
Joseph remained one year in the well, being supported in it by God.
TRANSLATIONS, &c.
275
At the end of that time, a man came with camels and oxen to drink,
and seeing Joseph (who still preserved “ his old little garment") a very
fine young man, he made a slave of him, and sold him to Pharaoh for
camels and gum.
Joseph soon rose to the charge of every thing in the house, but
Pharaoh put him into prison from caprice, and from the apprehension that
he was spoiled by indulgence, though Joseph had not done any wrong.
He was kept there one year, with two men slaves. A person named
Wahd, came to look at them. One of his fellow-prisoners said, “ Joseph
dreamed last night that a famine will come, and if the king does not take
care, it will destroy all, and the king will have a dangerous sickness. I
pray you go tell the king to take one bullock, to kill him, and to cook
him for the poor, then God will help him in his sickness.” Wahd told
the king. Joseph’s fellow prisoners were sent for and questioned, and
they confirmed the story. Joseph was then unfettered, and the king
said to him, “ You are a stranger, you must keep my keys, all my other
servants being born here.” The king then said to the others, “ All obey
this man, and you will please me.” Every day Joseph gave out one cup
of corn, and every day put a similar one into the store, in anticipation of
the famine about which he had dreamed, and he did this for three months.
Pharoah had three hundred wives. One wife “ took a liking to Joseph, but
he refused her embraces, the king heard the noise and came, and Joseph
refused to explain, saying, “ God has seen and knows, and he is enough
for me.” Pharoah had sent him away four days, when a councillor of
the king’s suggested, that he should ascertain if the fragment of linen,
left in the woman’s hand, belonged to the fore or the hinder part of
Joseph’s shirt ; if the former, it was Joseph’s attempt, if the latter, it
was tom by the woman when holding him unwillingly. In this manner
Joseph was acquitted, the keys were returned to him, and he again laid
up the corn. The famine arrived, and at the end of seven years there
was no corn left, but what was in the store. He was applied to for food,
and there was a plentiful supply.
The famine lasted seven years more, and then the king died. The
people wanted to make Joseph king. He was sent for, and advised of
it by the council, but he said, “ I know nothing of such affairs, I am
2 N 2
270
APPENDIX.
only a slave, but before you make me king, all people must pay what
they owed to the last king for provisions, that I may give it for the
support of his children, and you must make all the people swear, that
they have wished and ordered you to make me king.” He then gave
the people all the corn that was left, and they liked him very much.
Soon there came another famine, (elsewhere) and nineteen of his
brothers came to Misr, (or Cairo) to try and get something to eat.
Joseph then asked them where they lived, and they told him in Hinda,
and he knew them, though they did not recognise him; he however
relieved them, and secretly put his “ own little clothes,” and a cup, into
a sack of corn, and sent the whole to the old blind man and woman for
charity. The old people took out the cup and clothes, kissed, and
smelt them, and the scent of the garments cured their blindness, but they
still feigned it, as they were afraid of their sons. The old people sent
their sons again to King Joseph, to thank him for the corn, and to pre¬
sent him with a basket for a curiosity, it having been made by a blind
man. In the side the old man secreted a letter, in which he reminded
Joseph, that his youngest sister, an infant when he left home, was now
a woman. When Joseph received this, he loaded the camels and gave
his brothers much more corn, and sent a message to the blind people,
desiring them to send their youngest child. They did so, saying to her
secretly, “ that king is your brother, but speak not of it on the road, for
fear the others should kill you.” When they arrived, Joseph feasted his
brethren handsomely in his bed-room, and sent the girl to feed with the
servants. The brothers reviled Joseph for this, and for frustrating their
sister’s expectations as a female ; (meaning that he ought to have taken
her for a wife) and they got up and took her away with them, but Joseph
secretly put two large pieces of silver into the girl’s basket, and then,
pretending to have discovered a robbery, sent after her, found the silver
in her basket, and detained her, telling the brothers to go and fetch the
old man and woman. He then gave his sister fine clothes and rings, and
had her bathed.
The brothers went back to the old people, and said, “ Your daughter
is in prison, you must come.” When they reached Misr, Joseph pre¬
tended to put them in prison also. He then invited his brothers to a
TRANSLATIONS, &c.
277
feast, and had his parents and sister splendidly dressed, and brought in
as spectators. Upon this the brothers recognised father, mother, sister,
and Joseph, and ran away in consternation and shame to the bush,
Joseph sought them for three years, to beg them to come back, and to
assure them of his forgiveness. The messenger then returned and said,
“ I have found these people, but they have no longer any clothes, except
those made of grass, and they have become wild, and will not return.”
This history is not in the Koran, because it happened previous to the
making of that book.
THE ORIGIN OF MONKIES.
There was once a big and a strong man, who was by profession a
cook ; he courted a lady living in the same place with himself, and who
was of a rank superior to his own. She accepted his offer, on condition,
that she should never be asked to enter the cooking-house, but have a
dwelling prepared for her at some little distance. They were accord¬
ingly married, and to her great indignation, she was led to the kitchen as
her only apartment ; however, not willing so soon to make her husband
unhappy, she submitted in silence, but seeing no prospect of any altera¬
tion, she at length began to complain. Her remonstrances were at first
unheeded, but when they became violent and incessant, the man quieted
her by saying, that he would go to the bush and fetch wood to build the
promised house. He went, and brought home a little in a few hours.
The next morning, the wife urged him to renew his labours, and he went,
and after staying all day, again returned with a small quantity, which so
exasperated the wife, that she took the biggest of the sticks and beat
him well. The man then went a third time, but staid all night, and when
he repaired to his home, excused himself for returning empty handed,
by saying, that he had cut down some large trees, and could only bring
them part of the distance, as they were so heavy. The day after, he
professed to go to the bush to complete his task, and then staid two
days and two nights, which made the wife so unhappy, that when he
came back to her, she cried and begged him not to leave her, and that
278
APPENDIX.
she was contented to live in the cooking-house ail her life, rather than
lose him. But by this time he liked the bush so much, that he replied.
“ No, you made me go to the bush, now I like the bush, and shall go
and stop there always and breaking from her, fled to the forest, where
he became a monkey, or a wild man, and from him descended all other
monkies.
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